


Only My Own

by Icouldrun



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age of Ultron AU, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Masturbation, Slow Burn, Winter Soldier AU, Witness Protection, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2019-09-18 13:14:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16995663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icouldrun/pseuds/Icouldrun
Summary: Wanda is separated from Pietro and Hydra after a SHIELD raid just after the events of the Winter Soldier. Fury, recognizing a powerful ally rather than a new enemy, offers her a way out. Of course, this means she'll have to stay with somebody he trusts.





	1. Chapter 1

Wanda hadn’t been very active since she and Pietro had been recruited to Strucker’s lab. Her days were spent in either a small cell or a contained common area, but nothing she could really stretch out in. Pietro was the one they let go for runs…

She was paying for that now. Her body was so unprepared for the sudden running that she barely got off the main base before she felt herself out of breath. Still, she kept up a light jog and tried to ignore the artillery and bullets flying around her. It was loud and her lungs burned while her sides ached, but she kept pushing herself until there was at least  _some_ distance between her and the soldiers.

Wanda screamed for Pietro, though not out loud. That would be suicide given that the forest was overrun with men and guns. No matter how far she reached out she found only silence. She knew he wasn’t dead. No, she would have felt that. But he was far, so very far that she couldn’t pick up on his mind as she had been able to her entire life.

Her shoes weren’t meant for the snow and in one deep patch of the cold, she nearly lost her slippers. She stumbled, quick to stay grounded and not collapse but equally wobbly in her footing.

 _Pietro! Pietro, where are you? Please, I’m not fast enough_.

But her mind echoed lonely in a way she wasn’t accustomed to. She heard a rustling and people coming, and so despite her exhaustion and the freezing cold she was not adequately dressed for, she started to run again. She focused on quieting her steps and using the trees as cover as she went deeper into the woods. It was the furthest she’d gone from the base and supervision in… well it had been  _years._

 _Pietro!_ She called out again when she heard the snapping and crunch of snow and twigs.  _Please, I don’t have much longer._

She couldn’t outrun them. Whoever they were, they were about to catch her.

Wanda stopped abruptly and grounded herself, keeping her feet firmly planted to the ground as she tried to draw the energy to her palms as she had done in Strucker’s lab. The energy flowed and answered to the tips of her fingers. An impressive glowing of red that gave her a brief feeling of hope. Taking one more deep breath, she turned just as the black clad soldiers emerged from the trees. Four of them, all with their guns drawn and pointed at her. They were yelling in English. She understood the language but it took her a moment to catch on to the words.

“Put your hands up!”

“Her hands are red!”

“What do we do?”

Before they could answer their comrade, Wanda struck. She released her power onto the biggest of the men and watched satisfied as he flew backwards. She had to move quickly after that as the others began to shoot. Her shield was small and barely covered her head when she cast it out.

Her physical strength left much to be desired, so she tried to keep them at bay for as long as she could.  _Pietro, Pietro, Pietro._ She called for her brother over and over, desperate for a rescue. He must have been too far, though. A blessing or a curse, they’d never been separated before but she hoped that would mean he lived through this day safely.

Her red energy was still fairly new to her and her attacks, while surprising, were not lethal. Each time she threw somebody down, all they need do was get back up. Four against one, she never stood a chance. One pulled a gun, and while it was different from the ones earlier, it was equally frightening to see a clear aim at herself.

He pulled the trigger and before she could raise her arms in defense, the little electrodes latched on to her chest and belly. She screamed as she collapsed, her muscles shaking from the surge of energy shooting into her body.

“Her head, her head! Hit her, quickly.”

Her body was struggling against the spasms but she looked up just long enough to see the butt of a rifle coming directly at her.

What followed next were a few hours in and out of conscience. She had enough sense to realize she was strapped down. She kept her breathing shallow and her eye lids resting naturally each time she woke. As long as they thought she was resting, the more opportunity there would be to gather information on her captors or location. The English words she grew used to hearing but she did have to translate in her possibly concussed head. Not easy, but she did her best for the sake of not being caught off guard later.

“That Triskelion mess I hear they’re still cleaning up after. Will be years before the Potomac is cleared of debris.”

“And we got to lay low this whole time? So, a couple of bad seeds are in SHIELD. Shit happens, ya’ know?”

“Well yeah, but everybody has to go under review.”

Wanda drifted off sometime after this, her body sore and numbed but she knew she would need to be rested and well for the fight ahead.

* * *

 

Except there was no fight.

Unless Wanda against her restraints counted, and in that she failed miserably.

It was so cold when the back of the vehicle opened that she snapped out of her sleeping daze and bucked against the straps holding her down when the wind hit her exposed skin.

“Easy! Just cooperate and we’ll be inside in no time.” One of the men above her said. He had a beard and wore googles along with all of his tactical gear, so she doubted he realized just how cold it was.

“She probably doesn’t understand English,” another man, equally bundled, told his companion.

“Please…ugh….don’t… do not… ugh… struggle?” he said in broken Sokovian.

She did not acknowledge anybody as she was taken from the vehicle. A black van, she realized when she was brought to the ground. She thought she might have been strapped to a gurney or some sort of board, but she was mistaken when the surface she’d been lying on was folded into a makeshift wheelchair.

It was dark out but they were in some sort of parking lot. There was a large building that appeared to be a warehouse with orange lights illuminating the snow on the ground. A path had been dug out so that they could wheel her inside. Wanda tested her restraints just a bit and was sour to find them just as tight as they had been when she’d been lying down.

She tried to keep her cool when they brought her inside where it was blessedly much warmer. She didn’t show her relief at this but felt a sharp and acute fear that she wouldn’t be leaving this building anytime soon.

 _Long hallway. Five standard doors and one garage door. Possible escape? Right turn and three more doors before going down small ramp. Through storage area and then through the small door in the corner._ She would remember their directions just in case… if she could just get away and make another run for it…

The room she was brought to was nothing like she expected. The warehouse was full of boxes and things covered by large tarps. The smell of dust and stale air had been present since the moment they left the cold. Their final destination, where her wheelchair was parked, was much more modern with computers on nearly every surface and cords bundled together and lining the walls. There were screens on the walls and maps of the world. Satellite images and camera feeds all flickered one after another. Front and center was a man wearing all black from his boots to the hood on his head. When he turned to look at her, she couldn’t help but be startled that he would wear sunglasses inside, especially in a room lit only by the screens of his setup.

“What’s this?” The strange man asked.

“She was in the Sokovian lab, sir. We believe she is one of Strucker’s experiments.”

“Any sign of the scepter?”

“No. He must have gotten away with it.”

“Leave us.”

Wanda turned to look just in time to see the door close and she was left with the man in charge. He was watching her and she just knew that he was making assessments of her. Taking a subtle breath, she relaxed and did as she had only practiced a few times. Careful not to let any red mist slip out, she reached for his mind. Pietro’s thoughts would always come as easily as her own, but the others from the lab took a lot more effort and strength. Despite her tiredness, she managed to get a light grip on the man in front of her. Hopefully, without his notice.

He was done evaluating her physicality and deduced she wasn’t much of a fighter. She thought she even picked up on the word ‘malnourished.’

Next, he tried to calculate her age but took into account that she hadn’t had enough to eat in her lifetime and the possible toll of the experimentation. He though sixteen and she was nearly tempted to tell him twenty. Wanda saw a blurry image of a young girl with red hair in his mind before he pushed it away. His thoughts were quick and not easy to stay caught up on.

“What’s your name?” He finally asked. “I’m Nick Fury.”

Wanda pressed her lips together but did another scan of his mind.  _Truth._

“Wanda Maximoff.”

“Miss. Maximoff, what were you doing in that lab?”

She looked at the image on one of the big screens and wrinkled her nose. The Avengers.

He turned and saw the source of her disgust. “Not a fan?”

“Not really, no.”

He gave her a tight smile.  _Fake._

“Miss. Maximoff you and I are in a very peculiar situation. Will you allow me to explain it to you?”

She lost her grip on his thoughts for a minute but licked her chapped lips and gave as much of a shrug as she could manage around her bindings. “Go on.”

“You see, I was director of an organization known as SHIELD. Up until a little over a month ago, at which time it was discovered that the agency had been invaded by a group called HYDRA. Since then, I have been on the run and doing what I can to get the  _real_ SHIELD back into play.”

Wanda was frozen in her chair. She had thought… no… no he had to be lying. When she managed to get back inside his head, she saw the ugly truth of it. He was telling her the truth and that might mean…

 _She_  had been working for HYDRA.

HYDRA was infamous for their past as Nazi members and their role in the Second World War. Nazi’s and her long dead family had a bad history.

Fury continued though, despite her sudden terror.

“During my time here in Europe I have discovered several facilities that I was always led to believe were SHIELD, only to discover that they have long been taken over by HYDRA and using SHIELD as their cover. I believe my men found you today in one such facility.”

He was waiting for a response, but Wanda could say nothing in that moment but stare past him and to the screens that continued to change. What appeared on them, she had no idea.

“Wolfgang Von Strucker was the one in charge of your facility, correct?”

Things were so chaotic in Wanda’s own head that it was impossible for her to clear the feelings out and focus on Fury. The truth slipped out before she could get a real read on him. “Yes.”

She hated how meek her voice was, but it was too late. He had pity for her and thought she needed help. No, no Wanda was dangerous. She’d wielded more power in her palms than any human should have been capable of. She had to force herself to push these feelings away. The straps around her were still too tight and it would not serve her to reveal her power just yet.

“There have been reports I’ve come across during my time here,” Fury continued, “of human experimentation. Most of which happened under Strucker’s direct order and supervision. In all cases I have found, those under his research died. I believe, Miss. Maximoff, that you were kept off these reports and that you are a survivor of his foray into human enhancement. Am I close to the truth with this?”

Wanda didn’t answer. She also pulled away from his mind and sat limp in her chair. She wouldn’t have much time to weigh her options or come up with a plan. What she needed to consider was that Pietro had likely gotten away, as she caught no glimpse of her brother in Fury’s thoughts. Strucker would probably be with him, then. It was possible Pietro was also alone, but it wasn’t worth the risk to tell Fury anything about this.

Former Directors of SHIELD didn’t just sit back and let a rogue get away. He could very well order a bombing and she would be responsible for the death of her brother, doomed to die same as their parents.

He was still waiting for an answer though, and Wanda belatedly realized she would need to at least keep up some sort of farce until she could find a way to reconnect with her twin.

“There were experiments.”

“And were they successful?”

“I’m alive, Director.”

She reeled in her emotions before she lost control. Wanda carefully wormed her way back into Fury’s head without him noticing.

He was thinking his options over, the simplest being to simply shoot her now before she became a potential problem. She flinched at this, though was not surprised.

The image of the young red head was back in his thoughts, a girl who might have been similar to Wanda that he had taken a chance on. He was comparing them but stopped when he remembered his bias to the red head.

“What enhancements did he give you?”

Well he had  _thought_  of shooting her, and so a little cooperation might get her out of all of this alive, Wanda decided.

“I don’t know how to describe it and it’s still so new but….”

Where her arms were strapped down she managed to lift her index finger and point at the pencil holder on one of the desks. It shook for a second before falling to the ground and spilling its contents around the floor, a soft red haze dissipating when Wanda dropped her finger back down.

She felt his moment of terror and then the fascination.

“ _Telekinesis.”_ She spoke in Sokovian when she forgot the English word for it. Fury understood though, and she read the translation in his mind and repeated it over to herself so she would remember.

“Strucker will not just let you be taken, then.” Fury spoke calmly, but once again she felt the racing of his thoughts as he considered every angle. His thoughts were in such rapid fire and in multiples that she couldn’t keep up. He could have trained years to think in such a way, or the use of mind reading was still too new for her to maintain so long and subtly with him. At least she didn’t pick up on anymore notions on the simplicity of killing her. She was  _useful._

“Did you ever see a scepter in Strucker’s possession?”

“I- a scepter?”

“Pull up image of item cataloged  _Loki’s Scepter.”_

The large screens behind him went white before a very familiar weapon was on screen.

“That’s what gave me my powers.” Wanda admitted after deliberating on whether or not to share.

“When did you last see it?”

“Before your men arrived.”

She hadn’t cared about the scepter, only Pietro.

“It gave you your powers but it was also responsible for the attacks on New York two years ago.”

Fury took one last long look at the screens before giving a wave and the default images reappeared. He was gearing up for something, but she couldn’t be sure what. She suspected she did have a concussion, as her head pulsated with a dull pain. Her grasp on mind reading was fading and she caught only single words and the barest of images he thought of.

He finally took his sun glasses off and she flinched at the mutilated blind eye looking down at her. “Do you have any fidelity to Strucker?” 

“No.”

He had lied to her and when he had brought her and Pietro into the lab. SHIELD or HYDRA, he had promised them justice. She wanted to destroy the Avengers and make things right, make a better world. The bombs had stopped falling on Sokovia by then, what was left was a city of ashes that never quite recovered.  The goal was still there, but the means and resources Strucker had offered she buried. She would have to find another way to seek justice, but for now everything would come down to finding Pietro and regrouping.

“But you can’t kill him, not yet.” Wanda was firm in this.

“Why not?”

“Because…” she took a deep breath, whatever it took to save Pietro. “My brother is with him. Pietro, he didn’t know about HYDRA either, but Strucker will keep him close as protection. If you attack Strucker and my brother is killed, Director Fury, I will never forgive you or SHIELD.”

“Is your brother like you?”

“Yes,” her voice was sharp but it would do no good to lie if this information could possibly save Pietro later. “He’s got speed. He runs so fast that he cannot be seen. If your men find him, please ask that they don’t harm him.”

“Alright. If we are able to make contact I will have the message passed along that you’re safe. But you can’t stay here, Miss. Maximoff.”

“Why not?” Her eyes snapped up from where she’d been looking down. “I’ve never left Sokovia before.”

“We’re actually in Poland right now.”

“Oh.” So, she had slept longer than intended when they caught her, “but where would you send me? I can help you find Pietro, that will bring you to Strucker and this scepter.”

But he wasn’t having any of it.

“It’s too dangerous.”  _And I don’t trust you._ She could pick up on that much at least.

“I’d like to bring you to the United States, all off the books of course. Strucker wouldn’t dare go there for you. You have my word that as soon as the opportunity presents itself, we will separate your brother from him and have you reunited.”

He didn’t say what would happen after that, and Wanda knew it would all depend on her behavior and what damage Pietro might cause before he could promise anything.

With disdain and some indignation, she calmed herself before her eyes turned red as they had when she became volatile more recently. “He won’t believe you. He’ll think you’ve got me prisoner and he’ll attack you. I should stay and help.”

Or, she should stay just long enough to get to Pietro and they could run away  _together._ Away from HYDRA and away from SHIELD.

“No. These are the terms that will result in the most likely success, Miss. Maximoff. In America I can be reasonably sure that you’re safe and continue this search with better information. You will not be a prisoner and I assure you that only those who need to know about you will know. I will personally escort you to the States and all I ask for is your cooperation and a little trust.”

“If I’m not a prisoner,” here she gave a pointed tug on her multiple restraints, “what am I?”

“A refugee, as far as I’m concerned.” Fury walked behind her, and she felt the straps loosen before they fell away entirely. She managed to catch the uncertainty he felt, her powers coming back defensively when he got too close.

“Trust goes both ways, though.” He seemed to amend when he helped her stand for the first time in hours.

She let go of his hand as soon as she regained her balance. She stretched out her arms and felt a satisfactory pop.

She didn’t want to leave Pietro behind and go someplace foreign. She really _didn’t._ But he was right, Strucker wouldn’t go to America for her, and Fury had the resources to find her brother and keep him safe. She sighed and thought of protesting a bit more before following logic rather than sentiment.

“Okay. Okay I’ll go the States.”


	2. Chapter 2

Wanda had never been on a plane before and had no intention of ever doing so again. Fury had a modern quinjet but it was too silent and she was very aware that they were above the ocean. There was probably no land anywhere near them and the further they went, the more distance she was putting between herself and Pietro. They had never been separated for more than a few days max in Strucker’s lab, but they’d certainly never been on opposite continents.

It was just Fury, a pilot, and Wanda. They left her alone and she sat stiff in her chair the first hour before stretching out and closing her eyes. She never let her guard down but she did let her muscles ease. A little too much, she nearly lashed out when Fury sat a blanket and pillow on the seat next to her. “Just try to relax. We’ll be in New York soon.”

Wanda perked up. She’d always been curious about the famous city, but never imagined she’d actually see it herself. She sat back and pulled the blanket over to her, covering her legs and slouching back into her seat. “Do you know where you will send me?”

He actually squatted in front of her like she was a child he was trying to comfort. “I’m still working on that. I’ll stay long enough to get you settled before I return to Europe.  What should I tell Pietro so that he knows you’re alright?”

Ignoring that he was treating her so much younger than she was, they were finally onto a topic she was interested in. “Tell him…”

She raked her brain trying to think of what would make her brother at least give Fury a chance to reunite them. “Here,” she took off one of her rings and handed it over to Fury. “We were born twelve minutes apart. He’s older than me and won’t let me forget it. That should at least let him know we’ve met. Then get us on the phone together and I’ll tell him everything.”

Fury looked down at her black and red ring and nodded before pocketing it. “You thought Strucker was SHIELD?”

“I thought he was going to make the world better.” _And that had meant a world without the Avengers._

“We may be able to still do that.”

He got up and went to sit beside the pilot before she could ask what he meant. Didn’t matter, she was tired and nervous for what was to come. Wanda let herself slide down her padded bench. Drawing the blanket up and using the pillow he brought, she had just enough sense to know she couldn’t let her guard down before falling asleep.

* * *

_Doctor List and Strucker were looking down at her when the pain finally faded away. She was still to weak to lift herself off the gurney. Would have been pointless, she was still strapped down. She could smell the vomit in her hair and the copper from her nose bleed._

_“How do you feel?” List asked._

_“Still me.” She whispered, “where’s Pietro?”_

_“The room over. His metabolism was much faster than you. He woke up about fifteen minutes ago.”_

_“Oh.”_

_“You two will go to recovery together, and we will observe your vitals.”_

_It was the strangest thing, but she swore that despite his unmoving mouth, she heard Doctor List cry “they lived!”_

The quinjet didn’t land like planes did. It descended straight to the ground to her relief. There was just a small bump and then the engines were powering down. When the ramp opened up, Wanda did her best to fold up her blanket and stack it with the pillow where she had been sitting.

After an inhale of fresh, unfiltered air, and getting her feet onto some solid ground, Wanda could only stare at the buildings in the distance. They were taller than any she had seen before and touched the sky.

“Follow me, Miss. Maximoff. This is a private landing pad but I am technically dead and don’t need anyone spotting me.”

She kept up with Fury’s long strides, following him into the hanger not far from where they landed. It was a little warmer in the States than it had been in Sokovia, and that in combination with her nerves and Fury’s fast walk made her sweaty. Perfect, considering she’d been in the same clothes for at least two days now.

“There’s a compound still under renovation in upper New York State that I’ve arranged for you to stay. It’s still relatively private but you’ll be safe, courtesy of Tony Stark.”

Wanda froze and it didn’t take Fury long to realize he was walking alone. When he turned she saw him flinch. Her eyes must have been red, linked to her emotions that she struggled to regain control over. Props to him, he didn’t reach for his gun even if that’s all his thoughts consisted of in that moment.

“Tony  _Stark?_ The Iron Man?”

“Yes... is that a problem?”

“Not him! Not his house and never his, his  _help.”_

“Wanda, this is the safest option for you. Please consider it.”

She kept her feet firmly planted and shook her head violently while her greasy hair got in the way. “Not. Stark.”

She pushed her violent impulses down and tried to remember that not everybody had watched their parents fall down a hole in the floor. “I  _can’t.”_

“Okay. Okay, I get it. I’ll look for something else.”

She took a deep breath until her lungs were full and then released it. Pietro would pat her on the back or hold her hand while she regained control, but it was just her for now.

“Not Stark?”

“No. Just give me some time. Come on, we’ll find a place for you to clean up while I make some calls.”

She was still too tense when they made it inside the hanger. She hadn’t even thought about Stark living in New York, but now it felt so obvious. When Strucker had first found her and Pietro and promised them a better world, her vision included one without Stark in it.

There was a small room meant for pilots to sleep in while their planes were fueled up or repaired. “I’ll see about getting you some fresh clothes but for now I think you’re stuck with what you’ve got. Take a shower and I’ll see what I can do.” Fury told her, pointing to a closed door.

Wanda watched him wander off, already pulling out his phone. She eyed him for a bit but then went into the bathroom. The shower was a bit different than the ones back home, mostly for its consistently hot water.

But it was a relief to finally get under the hot water and clean up. The small shampoo and conditioner bottles smelled spicy and the soap fell apart pretty quickly, but she stayed in much longer than she ordinarily would. With her muscles soothing and her mind clear, it was easy to reach out and get into Fury’s head. She felt guilty, but in many ways she didn’t. It was coming naturally to her to read thoughts now, and she was in a foreign place, alone for the first time in her life.

She listened to his conversation as if she were in the same room as him, though he was on the other side of the hanger now.

“She doesn’t want to go to Stark’s compound, sounds personal.”

“Well what other choice does she have?” A woman said over the phone.

“We have options but I need something fast. She’s been through enough and I’d like her taken care of before I start the search for the scepter.”

“What about Rogers?”

“The Captain? Come on Hill, do you really think he’s up for this?”

“I don’t know Nick. He’s out of the hospital and nearly recovered. He’s taken a leave of absence until we work things out, and he’s looking for leads on the Soldier from home still. I don’t think he’d mind company  _and_ he’d be able to take her down if necessary.”

 “I don’t know about that, she’s pretty strong.”

“Hey, if anybody had a chance it would be him. It couldn’t hurt to just ask him.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Out.”

Wanda turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, still listening as she dried off and reluctantly put on her dirty clothes.

“Rogers, how’ve you been?”

“Fury? How’s Europe?”

“It’s going good, that’s actually why I’m calling. I have a lead on Loki’s scepter that I’m going to follow but somethings come up.”

There was only a small hesitation on the line, “what do you need?”

“I found a girl in Europe who’s been experimented on and enhanced. Her brother’s still missing but he may be with the scepter. I don’t know the extent of either of their powers but they are something else. They could make powerful allies, something I’d much rather have than enemies.” Wanda smiled to herself as she pulled her pants on. So that’s why he was so intent on being kind. “Stark was going to house her but she’s  _very_ opposed to that. You up for a house guest?”

“The government have any idea?”

“None and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“What about when I have to leave?”

“You planning on going on safari?”

“If I can find a solid lead on Bucky I’ll need to follow it.”

Fury hesitated and the spoke carefully, “Agent Thirteen still lives next door. I can have her supervise when you leave.”

“She’s still living next door? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Then she’s still doing her job.”

There was tension there, Wanda decided as she took her time towel drying her hair.

“Alright, she can have the spare bedroom,” he said but the words were slow and hesitant. He may have respected Fury, something Wanda could understand, and that was probably the only reason he was agreeing.

“There’s a pull out couch in there but not much else.”

“It’s fine. We’ll be there in a few hours. Thank you, Rogers.”

Wanda pulled away from the conversation when she exited the bathroom. Captain Rogers… the name didn’t sound familiar but anything would be better than Stark.

She didn’t have to go far to find Fury. He might have even been coming to get her.

“Found you a place, ready to get going?”

She nodded and played oblivious. All in due time he’d tell her what she already knew.

Not much later, they were in a black car going to Washington D.C. Fury told her that much. Just the other day she was waking up in a Sokovian research facility, a door away from her brother, and today she was alone on her way to the capital of an enemy country.

“Have you heard of Captain America?” Fury asked.

“Of course,” she answered slowly, having a bad feeling where this was going, “he’s an Avenger.”

“Yes. He’s actually the leader of the Avengers when needed. Right now, though, he’s on leave. He’s agreed to take you in after I leave. I think you two will get along.”

She’d heard him on the phone and he did sound nice, but her powers spiked just a bit when she realized she was being sent to live with an Avenger. Before she might protest, Fury jumped in. “He’ll give you your space and you might just like D.C. it’s a nice area. Use this time to figure out what you want to do once we find Pietro.”

Damn Fury, he knew just what to say to dissipate her growing frustration.

She sighed and looked out the car window as they made their way out of the city. “Okay, I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I ask.”

She couldn’t stop help her snort. He was a strange man, but he’d grown on her.

“Here,” he passed her his phone, “pick out things you think you’ll need. We can have them delivered around the time we arrive.”

She perked up, curious she took a look at his phone and felt floored, “clothes?”

“Yes, get enough to last you a while. I’ve already had the basics taken care of and delivered but you’ll need to blend in. It wouldn’t suit any of us if people figured out I was alive or that you were successfully enhanced.”

Wanda swallowed and scrolled through the pages of different articles of clothing, “I don’t have any money…”

“It’s on the SHIELD account. Take your time and get as much as you want, this is going to be a long drive.”  

A little weary, but equally intrigued, she began to scroll through the hundreds of images.

* * *

Washington was big like New York, but it didn’t have the large number of skyscrapers that made the other city so intriguing. It was getting dark out when they pulled up to a row of quaint buildings. They were well maintained and close to the city while also being tucked away in their own neighborhood.

Wanda only got a minute to take it all in before Fury was rushing her in. He was taking a little more precaution than he had earlier, having ditched his long coat for a shorter jacket and once again donning the dark glasses.

She was much more careful when she read his thoughts this time, and knew he was worried about being spotted. He had a lot of enemies in this city.

Up the elevator and down the long haul, Wanda couldn’t spot any real security measures. If she wanted too, if Fury couldn’t find Pietro fast enough, it would be pretty easy to just walk on out. At the end of the hall he knocked on the last door.

It opened not long after that. He was tall and blond, that was the first thing she noticed. His shoulders were broad enough that they nearly filled out the doorway. He radiated warmness, and when she took a quick peak into his mind she found genuine kindness in there. There was sadness too, but a whole lot of kindness.

“Nick, good to see you,” they shook hands quickly before the Captain was ushering them inside. Wanda hesitated, feeling very out of place again. His head tilted just a bit and an obvious curiosity radiating from his person when he finally got a good look at her. He offered her a small smile before reaching out his hand, “I’m Steve Rogers.”

She eyed him and then tentatively reached out, “Wanda Maximoff.”  

The apartment was nice. There were tons of shelves, most of which were filled with books. When she took a good look at the place though, it seemed pretty standard. Blank, really. There were seating areas but very little wear and tear. It all looked like a magazine catalog to her, advertising an apartment that wasn’t quite a home yet. She could remember her own apartment with the pictures on the walls, the scuff marks on the floor and bottom of the door frames. Wanda decided that he must have just moved in.

She stayed close to the walls, her hands clasped behind her back while Rogers and Fury did a quick catch up.

 “Thank you, I really do appreciate this.”

“It’s no trouble. How long are you in town for?”

“Not long the quinjet is on the way now. I have to get back to Europe tonight. I just want to get Wanda settled and then I’ll be going.”

Steve nodded to a room just past the kitchen, “They brought her stuff by earlier. It’s in the spare bedroom.”

“Wanda?” Fury motioned for her to follow him and she did. A little unsure of herself and how she should behave in an American home, she left her shoes on for now.

The bedroom was spacious and besides a few boxes and a couch, there wasn’t much else. The closet was empty and the blinds on the only window dusty. The carpet was clean and the walls a plain cream color, all in all it was like the rest of the apartment: boring and uninhabited.

Fury handed her a phone that had been in one of the smaller boxes in the room. “Keep it charged and with you at all times. When I find your brother, I will call you as soon as I can and I’ll need you to answer and reassure him you’re okay. There are three numbers in there besides mine. Steve’s, and two agents you can trust, Carter and Romanoff. Carter lives next door." 

She took the phone in her hands and flipped through the screens. 

"I've had you classified as a witness under SHIELD protection but the federal government will have no record of you. Don't get in trouble with the law. As a witness, you will get a small monthly stipend to spend as you like. It will go directly into a checking account that you'll see there on your phone. There's a card in one of these boxes that you can find when you have the time. Any questions?" 

So many questions but Wanda wasn't even sure where to start. "What should I be doing until you find Pietro?" 

At this Fury smiled and despite his internal hesitancy, he actually reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, “take it easy Maximoff. Get familiar with the country, hit the museums and try some of the food. Don’t worry about anything outside what you’ll do with yourself after I find your brother.”

“I… thank you,” she looked down at her shoes and did feel gratitude to this odd man who had gone so far out of his way to bring her here. It would have been so easy to lock her up back home until he knew what to do with her.

“I have to go now. There haven’t been any signs of Strucker in the last two days but I’m willing to bet he’s still in Europe.”

She nodded again and took a deep breath, “okay. I’ll keep this close,” she waived the phone at him but did not feel nearly as confident as she tried to convey. Despite all that he had done for her, Wanda longed to go back to Europe and find Pietro herself. They could run away together and never have to worry about SHIELD or HYDRA ever again.

She’d thought about it a few times when the experiments were at their worst and she needed anything besides what she had been living. There had never been a particular destination, but she’d wanted to do good in some way. Pietro would be there, of course, and they would find their own way to make the world a better place. In a lot of ways that fantasy seemed gone and in others, like it was so much closer to actually happening. Fury was right, she needed to figure out what to do once he found Pietro and got rid of Strucker.

He was heading to the door and she watched him go, her hands clenching around the phone when she realized she was actually going to miss him.  He held up her ring and asked, “twelve minutes, right?”

“Yes, please keep him safe when you find him, as you have done for me.”

He gave one definite nod and she listened to the low conversation outside and then the main door closing. Wanda exhaled when she realized she’d been holding her breath.

She stood there for a long time, her hand still gripping the phone she sat it down when she realized she might actually break it. The boxes were tempting to go through, and even though they contained everything Fury said she would need, it still didn’t feel right to go through them. The room was far too bare to really find a distraction.

She steeled her nerves and tucked the phone into her dress pocket.

Might as well get to know her host.


	3. Chapter 3

Maybe he’d lived here a little longer than she’d originally calculated. There were  _a lot_ of books on shelves all around the place. Mostly history, but she spotted a few other genres here and there. There were a few pictures on the wall but nothing very personal, stock photos really. She got down the little hall that led to her room and found him still standing in the living room. He had his phone out and when she took a shallow scan of his thoughts found that he was taking a look at the news. Nothing he didn’t do multiple times an hour.

“Hey,” she was still unused to not having Pietro by her side and it made her feel awkward not having him to lean on. “Should I take my shoes off?”

“If you’d like to. Make yourself at home.”

She nodded and took her slip-ons off by the door, though the space was empty and it just occurred to her that he might not live alone. She reached out with her senses but couldn’t find anybody else in the apartment.

“Are you hungry?”

“A bit, Mr. Rogers.”

“Steve is fine. Any preference, there isn’t much here but I could always order something.”

Wanda shrugged, she had no idea what would constitute an average American dinner or what would be easiest to order. “Anything is fine.”

“Pizza?”

“Sure,” she answered immediately. There was a list of numbers on the refrigerator that he went to and read off of while he dialed.

“What toppings do you like?”

She cheated here and looked into his mind to see what he liked, “peperoni.”

While he was on the phone, Wanda couldn’t help but look around a little more, finally seeing a personal touch. There was a black and white photo of a group of men, and a little notebook with lists of things, some of which were scratched out.

All in all, Steve seemed like a good guy, but she couldn’t forget that he was a part of the Avengers. Their leader, as it were.

“Should be here in about twenty minutes,” he looked a little unsure of himself but Wanda wasn’t certain she had enough control to read his mind right now without giving it away. “How are you feeling?”

She took a seat onto one of the smaller couches, “good, I guess. So much has happened in two days.” Wanda felt her limbs grow heavy with exhaustion but did her best to stay alert.

“I’ve been there,” Steve admitted lightly, though she knew there had to be more.

“Yeah?”

“You know, waking up and finding out everything is so different.”

Wanda knew he was referring to himself, but she didn’t really understand what he meant. They had just met after all, “what do you mean?”

“Nick told you I was Captain America, right?” Steve asked while taking a seat across from her.

“Well, yes.” It hit her, though she never really knew the whole story to begin with. “Oh! You were frozen, weren’t you?”

He gave a tight smile, “yep, that’s me.”

“Sorry, I heard about you but wasn’t sure if it was all real.”

“It is. I’ll be one hundred in just a few years.”

“No, you won’t.”

His eyes shot up to her and she wondered if she had offended him. The words tumbled out before she could really think them through, “I mean sure legally you’re that old. But biologically, you’re what? Twenties?”

“Twenty-nine.” 

“See,” she smiled, “it’s going to be a long time before you’re a hundred-year-old man.”

The look he gave her was blank and she wondered if she’d already overstepped her place. She risked a glance into his mind, only the surface of his thoughts and feelings. She expected offense, maybe even dislike to her. What she found was gratitude. Not at all what she was expecting, Wanda began to wonder if her powers  _could_ malfunction.

But Steve changed the subject before she could think over it anymore and why he would be grateful that she pointed out his rightful age.

"Fury says you're from Sokovia?" 

"Yes, this is actually the first time I've ever been away from home. And my brother." She breathed out the second part, feeling the phantom pain of his absence.

“You two are close?”

“Twins, actually,” feeling self-conscious she began to play with her rings and couldn’t bring herself to look up, “he’s like me… he survived the experiments.”

“Was it like a box?”

“Huh?”

“When you were given your enhancements? Was it a box that sealed up and shocked you all over? That’s what it was like for me.”

“No,” she shook her head and felt a certain familiarity to him now. He was like her and Pietro, she had to remind herself. “Injections, mostly, and some shocks but nothing in a box,” not that she could remember, anyway.

They lapsed into a silence that made Wanda uncomfortable and she spoke quickly, figuring she might as well be honest since he’d opened his home to her. “We wanted to protect Sokovia… and I thought that meant destroying the Avengers.”

Steve tilted his head at her but she still didn’t think she had the control to read his thoughts. She would have to have this conversation the old-fashioned way, then.

“I understand.”

Her eyes widened, “I-you do?”

“There were a lot of frightened people after New York. Fight fire with fire, of course I can understand that,” he motioned behind him to the wall and she saw the famous shield leaned casually against his kitchen counter.

She smiled, as weak as it was, but shook her head just slightly. “It was before New York when the bombs hit Sokovia,” she stopped. She wanted to keep going and say the words, but that day was still so fresh and the wounds raw. Despite his kindness, Wanda knew Steve was teammates with Stark, and didn’t want to share this with him. The Iron Man and Stark had been the first she swore to destroy, the other that followed were equally problematic. After all, who would willingly work with the Merchant of Death?  “I am grateful you’ve opened your home to me. Hopefully Fury will find my brother quickly and I won’t overstay my welcome.”

“Don’t worry about overstaying, as long as it takes. Even after your brother is found he’s welcome here as well while you figure things out,” Steve paused and she thought he was debating something when he finally figured it out. “If I had to guess, I’d say Fury wants you to join the Avengers.”

“I couldn’t. Neither would Pietro.”

“Because of the bombs in Sokovia?” he asked despite not knowing the whole story. But he’d picked up on her hesitancy earlier and she felt her stomach flip because of that.

“Yes. I want to help… I want to make the world a better place. But I couldn’t be an Avenger.”

“He must have been impressed by your powers.”

“I think so.”

Wanda knew Steve was probably curious as well. She relaxed her muscles and reached out. Her eyes must be red judging by the way he looked into them more intently. She reached out with her hand and took hold of the famous shield. It was wrapped in the red of her powers before falling gracefully into his waiting hands.

“My brother is a fast runner, so fast you wouldn’t be able to see him.”

“And you have telekinesis?”

She nodded but would not reveal that her powers extended beyond that. There was the mind reading, and there might be more she could do. Everything was still too new to know for sure, but Strucker and the doctors all agreed that there may be more to the success of her enhancements.

He was busy looking at his shield and she was trying to reign in the sudden energy she felt burning from her palms when there was a knock at the door. They both turned to the noise, neither particularly startled but both reluctant to pull away from their thoughts.

Steve motioned to her eyes, “they’re uh, still red.”

“It takes me a minute to get them under control,” she admitted, looking opposite of the door so that he could answer it.

The pizza boy seemed to recognize Steve, and certainly the shield on the couch. He was a professional, though, and collected the money and wished them a good night before leaving. Wanda thought she could feel his excitement, though, and the way he was already texting his friends.

Steve passed her a plate with two slices on it. It wasn’t until she got a whiff of the food that she realized how hungry she was. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

They ate in a semi-comfortable silence, and it was into her third slice that she felt how heavy her eyes were.

“You look exhausted,” he commented lightly.

She ate every last bite and nodded, “thank you again for everything, but I think I need to go to bed.”

“That couch in your room folds out, my friend Sam sleeps in there sometimes. The bedding on it is clean.”

“Do you want me take your plate?” she asked, planning to wash her own. He reached out and took her empty dish from her hands.

“You just go to bed.”

Wanda felt warmth in her chest, warmth from his kindness and how welcoming he had been to her, a complete stranger.

“Goodnight, Steve.”

“Night, Miss. Maximoff.”

“Wanda, just call me Wanda.”

* * *

The bed was much more comfortable than her cot had been in the lab. The blankets were warm and the pillow fluffy and soft. She must have slept for hours, but it was still dark outside when she woke up. Wanda rubbed her eyes and thought about going back to bed but she was to awake to really settle back into sleep. Jet lag, she realized with annoyance. The clock read just a little before three in the morning, what that was in Sokovian time she had no idea.

There was a small bathroom just outside of her room and, much to her delight, the shower water was just as consistently warm as the New York hanger had been.

She changed back into the sweats and t-shirts she had found in one of the boxes before going to bed, thankful for something clean.

But now that she was awake at an ungodly hour, clean and full from dinner, she figured she might as well go through the boxes Fury had left for her.

The clothes she had picked out on the long ride from New York were all there, much to her happiness and uncertainty. For the last two years, she’d mostly worn lab issued clothing, usually frumpy dressing gowns or scrubs. What she had now were a variety of modern outfits and comfortable lounging attire. Despite the closet space, after taking a look at everything she’d picked, Wanda folded it up and left it in the big box before pushing it into the corner.

The next package was toiletries, and the young Sokovian put everything on hold when she finally came across a toothbrush and toothpaste. With fresh breath, she finally felt a bit more like herself.

Fury really had taken care of all of the basics when he ordered for her. She was gleeful and felt indebted to the one-eyed man when she realized the extent he’d gone to. But neither she nor Pietro would join the Avengers, that much she knew.

When Wanda had a pretty good stock of everything in the boxes, she settled back on her bed and took a look at the phone. No calls yet, but Fury probably wasn’t even back in Europe.

She ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath. She wouldn’t let herself think too much about everything that happened, but she still felt the fresh absence of Pietro. It was like he was just down the hall and not another continent.

Eventually, Wanda was done with her pity party and got under the covers. It was still comfortable, but a little too big and too new for her. She stared up at the dark ceiling, illuminated by the city lights. Sokovia was never this bright at night.

She laid there for maybe an hour before giving up. She sat up but wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. She peaked at the phone but sat it down. She was far too anxious waiting for Fury’s name to pop up with an incoming call.

Instead, she tiptoed out into the living room. It was dark but she found a book about cults in the sixties before she returned to her room. Reading in English was much slower than her native tongue, but it was a nice way to kill time.

When she finally fell asleep, she had just enough good sense to push the book away to avoid getting her drool on it.

* * *

When she finally woke up it must have been pushing well into the afternoon. Her hair was tangled up but she felt rested and ready for whatever may come.

First, though, she washed her face up in the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She changed into some of her new clothes, a pair of jeans and a comfortable blouse and combed her hair out.

With some butterflies in her stomach, she went into the living room.

She heard voices before she exited the hall that made her hesitate in her steps. She reached out with her powers and felt the second presence. Warm, like Steve was, but a little more open.

Wanda rounded the corner but then stayed close to the wall, unsure if the new person knew about her or if she should have stayed hidden. Too late, both he and Steve stopped speaking when they saw her.

She cleared her throat, “good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Morning!”

“Sam this is Wanda, Wanda this is Sam,” Steve introduced them.

“Hey, nice to meet you,” Sam walked over and shook her hand.

“You too,” she smiled shyly, her voice still husky from sleep and her accent a little more prominent than yesterday.

“So, you’re friends with Fury? How’s the old man doing?”

She shrugged and leaned against the wall. “I only met him the other day. He seems like he’s doing ok…”

“Wanda, are you hungry?” Steve asked from his seat. She just noticed the laptop on the table and the stress rolling from her host.

“A bit,” she admitted, feeling like a parasite in his home, especially since he seemed busy.

Sam was watching her but she was unsure of herself to read his mind inconspicuously, “you know, I’m pretty hungry too. Mind if I grab a bite, Steve?”

“You don’t have to ask,” Steve shrugged, eyes glued back to the computer screen.

“Come on, Wanda, I’m sure we can scrounge up something here.”

The gesture was transparent, but very much appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

For the next week, Wanda grew more comfortable as she and Steve settled into a routine. Sometimes in the morning Sam would stop by and the three of them would have breakfast, or sometimes it would just be her and the Captain. They would usually eat in the living room and watch the news. Towards the afternoon, Wanda would usually go for a walk and once she found the bank card Fury mentioned to her, she might grab a coffee or a snack. What Steve did in his afternoons she wasn’t sure of and didn’t want to pry. Later, in the evenings Steve would usually order some food and they would eat it while watching the news once again. Three meals a day, loaded with actual nutrients did wonders, and Wanda thought she might look less like a malnourished child and a bit more her actual age.

They didn’t speak much, and after she was done she would usually tell him goodnight before grabbing one of his books and reading until she was tired enough to fall asleep.

It was a relaxed schedule they were on that seemed to suit both of them for the time being. But she still checked the phone constantly, just waiting for Fury to finally call and tell her that Pietro was alright. Steve also had a habit of checking the computer and watched the news religiously. She felt his anxiety, and fervor to find… somebody. Sometimes she picked up on images of a man with dark hair and blue eyes, but mostly she _tried_ not to listen to his thoughts once she decided he wouldn’t hurt her.

And she was fairly certain he wouldn’t hurt her. She could never feel any malice from him, directed towards her. If anything, there was a light curiosity but he always kept it at bay and tried to stay out of her way, something she appreciated the first few days she had been in his home.

With time she felt relaxed enough to go through the cupboards in the kitchen. There wasn’t much, what was there were flavorless food bars packed with calories and a few cans of soup.

Disrupting their schedule that day, a little over a week after she arrived, Wanda hit the supermarket and grabbed what she might need. A lot, when she remembered the bare cabinets.

When Steve got back from whatever it was he did most days, she was nearly done with the paprikash.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she called over his shoulder, “but this was my favorite growing up.”

“Smells good, but what is it?”

“Paprikash, now sit down. It’s almost finished.”

Instead of going to the living room where they usually ate, he sat at the little table just beside the kitchen. She loaded up two plates and sat one on either side of the table when she joined up.

She was only a few bites in when she felt the need to share, “this was the last meal I had with my parents.”

Steve looked up at her but she ignored him while she looked for the right words, “in our apartment when we were ten. My mom usually made paprikash on Wednesday.” Wanda shrugged and took a big bite.

“When I first got out of the ice and tried to figure things out, the trip to the grocery store was the oddest thing… well, after the internet anyway.”

She couldn’t help but smile, “why was the store weird?”

“There had been war rationing when I went under, and before that the country was in a depression. It was just weird to see a store so full. I thought it was all overpriced but had to keep remembering there was inflation.”

“Must have been a tough transition.”

“Nothing an alien invasion couldn’t distract from.”

She remembered the hole in the sky and the people running as fast as they could while a group of strange people gathered on the television, determined to stop the attack.

“Were you afraid?”

“No, it was familiar.”

And maybe she could understand that. For all the freedom she seemed to have now, since Wanda had been a child she was kept on a short leash. It hadn’t mattered, so long as Pietro was there in Strucker’s lab or whatever came next. But she was afraid now, of an uncertain future that may or may not involve her brother. It would have been familiar had Fury just locked her away in a SHIELD prison, but this was so much more strange to her. Nice, but strange.

Perhaps it was overkill, and maybe he didn’t want to hear it, but she just wanted somebody to  _know._

“I miss my brother. It’s like… like I’ve lost a part of myself. All I can think of most days is if he’s okay, how he’s doing and where he’s at. It would just be so much easier if I only knew he were okay.”

Steve had stopped eating but he wasn’t looking at her. His fist was balled up and Wanda sat down her fork and waited. The images that were flashing through his head were rapid but she caught them as though they were her own.

The man with blue eyes and dark hair, screaming  _shut up! Shut up! Shut up!_ In a uniform at the end of an ally, younger and a little less broken. Smiling, later in a land of snow and a train in the distance. And then falling, falling, always falling in Steve’s memories, one arm reached out and a sharp scream that could be heard even over the howling wind.

“Who was he?” Wanda asked, her voice shaking but she thought she might be seeing Steve for the first time.

He looked up at her, startled to be pulled from those terrible thoughts but doing his best to put on a peaceful façade. It failed when he saw her eyes, and as most people did when they saw the red, he grew fearful.

“Can you see into my thoughts?”

She felt her heart stop. She had shown her hand, and that her powers went beyond levitating things. She wanted to see how angry he was but stopped herself and looked down at her half-finished dinner.

“Yes.”

He sounded calm when he spoke, but she couldn’t bring herself to look back up. Her eyes were still their unnatural color and she didn’t want to frighten him anymore than she must have already. “Can you read  _anyone’s_ thoughts?”

She still couldn’t look up, feeling enormous shame for the invasion of privacy he must have felt because of her. After all he had done, Wanda knew she was probably out. Maybe it would be a SHIELD prison, because Fury must also feel compromised that she’d been able to see into his mind. She was dangerous, a freak with powers incomprehensible even to herself and much to hazardous to be left alone let alone a guest in somebody’s home.

“A bit,” she answered honesty, she owed that much. Her voice was shaky but she did her best to be non-threatening, especially since she couldn’t get her eyes under control. Still focused on her food and trying not to let her voice crack she answered quickly. “Telekinesis and mind reading. I feel what people feel if I open myself to it. And this,” She waived her fingers and watched the familiar red energy wrap around her fingers and listen to her silent commands. It was raw power and she knew it could do damage, but she dispelled it and locked back down.

“There might be more, but I’m not sure,” she whispered down to her lap.

“Wanda, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” She responded instantly, knowing she had been wrong but unsure how he could possibly think it was okay. “I betrayed your hospitality, and I betrayed Fury’s kindness.”

Shame and guilt, that’s all it took for a few tears to escape, much to her horror.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to get out, despite the tears escaping now.

“Don’t be. Wanda, look at me.”

She inhaled and choked down her sobs before slowly looking back up. The edge of her vision was red, so her eyes probably still hadn’t returned to their natural state. What a devilish sight she must have been.

“You’re in a country you’ve never been to before and asked to trust two strangers with your life  _and_  your brother’s. If I were in your shoes and had your powers, I’d do the same thing.”

But he couldn’t possibly mean it, and before she could stop herself she was trying to look inside.

“Is that you?”

He felt her.

She let out a sob and looked away. “It’s instinct now,” she admitted.

Steve wasn’t looking at her but she was too afraid to look at anything but her plate. When he spoke, she prepared herself for the worst. “When I first got the serum… a lot of things happened at once. I wasn’t in pain anymore, and I could breathe without trouble. It didn’t feel like my body but my mind was still mine. It all took a lot of getting used to… No Wanda, I’m not angry and I do mean it when I say I understand.”

She took a deep breath, if only to calm herself and maybe stop the horrible choked feeling she had each time a sob came up.

There was the scrape of a fork against a plate before Steve spoke up again, “this stuff really is good.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that despite the few tears still ruining her eyeliner. Maybe everything would be alright after all.

* * *

The next night, after a day of normalcy between her and Steve, Wanda thought everything really would be okay. She had just set one of Steve’s books down and was getting comfortable in her bed when the phone rang.

It took her a moment to understand what was happening, and when she did her hands shook so badly that she struggled to answer the incoming call from Fury.

“Hello?”

“Just me, no signs of your brother yet.”

The disappointment was crushing but she tried not to let it sound in her voice, even if her shoulders slumped and she wanted to be upset.

“Oh, how are you Fury?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to check on how things were going there?”

She sunk into the pillows she had propped up, “good, Steve is very nice. Sam too. It’s been fun exploring the city.”

“Met Wilson too, then?”

“Yeah. He comes by some mornings.”

“Well there are a few leads I’m going to take a look into, hopefully the next time I call it will be with your brother next to me.”

Wanda nodded, one could only hope for that much. Before he could hang up though, she had to ask, “Fury, did you bring me here because you want Pietro and I to be in the Avengers someday?”

The long pause that followed may have been answer enough.

“It was something I hoped you would be open to someday. We don’t have to figure anything out now, but once you’ve been reunited with your brother perhaps it’s something the two of you will consider.”

She doubted it but couldn’t speak for Pietro or where she might be in the future.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Alright kid, I got to go but I’ll stay in contact.”

When he hung up, Wanda knew there would be no falling asleep so easily. She picked up the book and fluffed up her pillows before settling in for another few hours of reading.

* * *

She woke up late the next morning after having stayed up so much longer than she was used to. Mostly, she thought of Pietro and what she would do if she never saw him again.

When she finally did fall asleep, it was always with the image of a blur running away from her. Distant and alive, but deaf to her screams to come back.

It was just as she came out from down the hall, fresh from the shower and in a loose dress did she realize Steve had a guest that was  _not_ Sam.

The woman at the entrance was beautiful with curly blonde hair, but Wanda’s senses could pick up the lethal undertones that radiated from her. Steve didn’t seem super happy to have her here, but otherwise stayed off to the side.

“You must be Wanda.”

“I-yes.” She was unsure and weary of the woman before her.

“I’m Sharon, I live right next door.”

It took her a moment to place the name but it clicked eventually, “oh, you work for Fury? I think I have your phone number.”

“Yes. I was an agent with SHIELD before it collapsed. I’m with the CIA now, but Fury asked me to watch out for you along with Captain Rogers.”

At this, Wanda felt a spike of annoyance from Steve. Bad blood, she decided.

“I’ve been away for a while, but I’m here now if you need anything.” Sharon pointed to the door just visible through the open entrance, “and of course you can call me if something comes up.”

Sam’s presence registered to Wanda long before he made it down the hall and to the apartment just before things started to get awkward. He was carrying a small pile of newspapers and loose papers, his focus so intent on not dropping anything that, like she had done, it wasn’t until he was nearly into the apartment that he noticed Sharon.

“Oh, hey again. Back for good or just packing up?” he asked casually, perhaps sensing the tension between her and Steve.

Sharon wasn’t so easily shook, though, and shrugged it off easily. “I’ve been away but I’m back now,” she flipped open a badge, “Agent Carter, CIA.”

Sam smiled and said something that Wanda failed to catch. Sharon had seen the papers Sam had set down and while she had no outward appearance, Wanda could feel a mixture of emotions from the other woman.

Unsure if it would be right or wrong, the Sokovian took a light peak into Sharon’s mind and tried to pinpoint what emotions had been triggered by the documents Sam had brought with him.

Guilt, was the primary one she found. A little fear, and some uncertainty.

_The Winter Soldier isn’t in the U.S. anymore. All intel points to Europe._

Sharon’s thoughts were a little muddled, but this piece of information she was going to keep to herself even though… well Wanda didn’t know why she needed to keep it to herself.

“Well I best be off, got a lot of unpacking to do. Wanda, again, if you need anything please don’t hesitate to call.”

It took her a moment to center herself, when she did she could only nod a bit, “ok, thanks.”

The door closed but Wanda was already gathering up her things. “I’m gonna go into the city for the day.”

She was too distracted by Sharon’s thoughts to know if Steve or Sam said anything before she left. She didn’t bother with a cab and enjoyed the fresh air as she put some distance between herself and the apartment.

At the café she had begun to frequent, she got the usual latte and blueberry muffin before continuing her walk.

Usually, she would have Pietro to be her soundboard, he would listen to her problems without judgement before giving advice, just as she did for him. Their separation was becoming more and more acute each day and it was only getting worse without  _knowing_ when she might see him again. She finally stopped her walk and took a seat on a bench just on the edge of a large park.

If Pietro were here right now…

 _So, I’ve been reading the thoughts of those around me,_ she would tell her brother. He would nod, long accustomed to her listening to him.  _Steve knows, but he might just be the only person who didn’t hate me when he found out._

At this, Pietro might tease her about having a crush on the Captain,  _it’s sort of hard to hate somebody when you like them more than you should._

She would deny it, and tell him Steve was just a good guy, but before he could start up his teasing again she would tell him all of her troubles.  _And today, there was a woman named Sharon. She seems nice, but it seemed very important to her that Steve not know this Winter Soldier wasn’t in the U.S. anymore, and that made her feel guilty. What are the ethics involved with mind reading? Do I ignore everybody around me unless it’s an immediate threat?_   _But I owe Steve, so do I tell him?_

And Pietro would say… what would he say, she wondered.

She finished off her muffin and balled up the little paper it came in.

 _It’s up to you._ He might say.

_These things are complicated…_

She reached out with her powers as though Pietro would be close enough that they could be connected again. She reached out as far as she was able to go and found nothing familiar, too far to even pick up on Sam or Steve let alone the last of her family.

When she pulled away she nearly crumbled, feeling the loneliness once more.

 _You don’t have all the facts._ Pietro would tell her,  _it’s up to you, but if Steve is as nice as you say he is, you should just be able to ask him what’s up._

That’s what Pietro would say, almost certainly.

She’d used to much energy reaching out and couldn’t quite reel it all back in. The tips of her fingers glowed red and she felt the wave of power that begged to be lashed out. Gently, she sent the red wisps away and watched them surround the nearby group of businessmen having lunch outside. They were in a heated debate but as soon as her powers surrounded them, they all seemed to calm down as she willed them to take a break.

Influencing was something she had just started to really practice in Strucker’s lab. First with small animals with mixed results. She had been able to get a rat to abandon his meal and return to the wall, and later could get men who were not paying attention to leave the room. If somebody was paying enough attention or concentrated on resisting her, there usually wasn’t much she could do and they would be able to break free.

Later, Wanda still took her walk around town as she tried to build up some of her strength. Years spent in Strucker’s lab may have enhanced her powers and mind, but her body still seemed mostly human and it needed conditioning to not grow so tired after just a bit of movement.

It was a little later into the afternoon when she made it back to the apartment. When she walked by Sharon’s door, she knew the woman was inside working. There was a bit of stress, but nothing excessive. Sam was gone, but Steve was still home and in the living room when she got inside.

“How was your walk?” he asked once she set her bag down, though she took the phone out and always kept it on her person.

“Good. It’s beautiful outside.”

She cleared her throat and wondered if she was overstepping her place before diving head first into things. “Who’s the Winter Soldier?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> added a few new tags to this, please take note if you'd like to skip certain scenes. Thanks for the comments y'all!

 Steve looked up at her, the open laptop in front of her was quickly forgotten and his sole focus was pointed to her. “Where did you hear about him?”

Wanda took a seat across from him and clasped her hands in front of her, squeezing each time she felt nervous. “I’ve heard it a couple of times…”

She really tried to give his mind privacy, but he was all but projecting the images right to her. It was the same man she saw the other day when she had cooked paprikash. First, he was standing between Steve and a machine that would kill millions, and later a single metal hand reaching out in the water and pulling him from certain death.

“Is that him?” she spoke softly, while trying to ignore the emotions Steve was going through now. They were a hurricane of despair and failure that made her ill.

“Yeah,” he admitted, “but his name is James Buchanan Barnes. But to me, he was always my friend Bucky.” He spoke with such nostalgia and warmth that she could feel it without even using her powers.   

“What happened?” she asked quietly, having a bad feeling where this was going.

Steve’s face darkened in a way she’d never seen it before, the hurricane of emotions grew stronger and a rage she didn’t expect from him surfaced. He told her all of it then, his friend Bucky who went to war and was presumed dead, their reuniting, the fall from the train. Steve waking up seventy years later and fighting the Winter Soldier, the Potomac, and finally the friend who was nowhere to be found.

She stayed silent through all of it, until he got to the end and motioned to the open computer in front of him, “and now, I’m just trying to find him. He’s alone out there and trying to figure things out, but I think I can help.”

He ran his hands over his face and pushed his hair back. Wanda was taking it all in, trying to figure out what it all meant. In a lot of ways, she already knew what he was going through albeit on a smaller scale and much shorter time frame. She was also separated from somebody with no idea where they were or how they were doing. She felt closer to Steve then, better than she had been in the near two weeks she’d stayed in his home.

“He’s your Pietro,” she sighed, looking at the blank screen of her phone.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

They sat in a comfortable silence, perhaps he was feeling the connection she was and simply enjoyed it for a time.

“Why did you ask about him earlier?” Steve eventually asked her, closing his laptop screen and watching her closely.

Wanda tried to have no outward reactions, but after hearing everything that happened to Barnes, and how desperate Steve was to find him, she knew there could be no holding back. She would have to set the ethics of mindreading aside for now.

She sunk into her seat, though, and held her hand up.

“I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to confront anybody with this. I’m not even sure it’s true. But you _can’t_ hurt anybody with this, okay?” she stressed her point. She didn’t think Steve would ever actually hurt Sharon over this, but she didn’t want an angry confrontation.  Sharon was just an agent following orders and doing her job.

He tried to hide the anxiety he had, maybe even the suspicion, but he nodded. “Okay, what is it.”

She took a calming breath and spoke as gently as she could. Her accent still felt thick but it was worse when she was nervous. “Earlier, when Sharon was over I picked up on some of her thoughts. Her intel says that Barnes isn’t in America anymore. They believe that he’s in Europe.”

For a long moment, Steve was unreadable. She didn’t dare use her powers and just waited for anything to see how he felt about all of this. Many emotions played out over his features but she let him work through it alone before he seemed to reach his own conclusions.

Despite everything he must have been feeling, he did a pretty good job of not showing it when he finally spoke, “well then I guess I should be looking in Europe.”

Wanda perked up, “I can help there. If you’re looking for Barnes and I’m looking for Pietro, we might find them together.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.”

“Please don’t think I’m a child like Fury does,” Wanda moaned, “I’m twenty, not sixteen, and I can help with this. How much easier will it be for you to find your friend with me reading minds of people who might have seen him?”

“No Wanda, it can’t happen. Fury sent you here for a reason and dragging you into a possible battlefield is unacceptable.”

She stood up then and crossed her arms. “Well Europe’s a pretty big place, do you plan to just drop in and find him day one? Needle in a haystack, with me there I can shrink the field.” She was thoughtful for a moment, “maybe somebody here knows more? Get me close enough and I can try to find out more.”

This Steve seemed to consider before shaking his head, “no, thank you for telling me what you knew, but there’s got to be another way.”

“But this is the _best_ way, for both of us.”

“I can’t justify taking you someplace dangerous, not after everything you’ve been through.”

“Then I’ll always stay behind you, I’ll follow orders and if you tell me to get out I will, but if you go then I should too.”

He shook his head but before he could reject her again she jumped in, “who does Sharon report to? If you get me close enough, I’ll know more.”

A plan was already forming in her mind where she would find out as much as she could. Steve would leave but then what would stop her from following shortly after? And if she could get her own leads on Pietro, then she would have to follow them. Still, she did want to help the Captain, and if she could then she would, but she would always make her brother her priority.

“That’s too dangerous, Wanda. You don’t even exist as far as this country’s concerned. If they find out about you, who knows what will happen? Not to mention it could get out that Nick’s alive.”

She wrinkled her nose at that. She had no intention of betraying Fury’s help, but she was also desperate, “I wouldn’t have to be super close to read somebody. There’s a certain range I can go from.”

“You really want to do this?” Steve asked, and she felt a flicker of hope that they could find their people together.

“I want to help you find Barnes and I can’t just sit here and hope Fury finds Pietro.”

As curious as she was what he was thinking, she didn’t peak into his mind while he thought it all over. She sat back down and waited silently.

“No, I can’t bring you with me to Europe and I can’t have you listening to somebody with classified information.”

Her heart sank but he continued, “me trying to find my friend can’t come by endangering others, you included.”

Disappointed and frustrated she struggled to think of what to do next. She was blank, though, and didn’t know if there was anything she _could_ do. “I just… I don’t want to sit here and do nothing.”

Steve nodded, in the same boat as her.

They sat in another one of their thoughtful silences before Wanda couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed her phone and gave him a small nod of her head, “I’m gonna go read for a bit, let me know if you come around to my offer.”

If he gave any response she didn’t hear it, aloud or in his head when she went to her room. It was too small to really pace around in but she didn’t know how to bring herself back down. Her heart was pounding and she had the need to do _something_ to get her life back on track.

She used the phone for a while, picking up Steve’s habit of checking the news constantly. It could be the tiniest thing that could lead her to Pietro or Strucker, even the most offhand comment might be her key. There was nothing, and she pushed the phone away but not before once again checking that the volume was at it’s highest.

Collapsing face first onto her mattress, she laid there for a while just trying to find a new plan, an unexplored angle that could fix everything.

The stress was becoming too much and she felt the back of her neck growing stiff from the tension she carried in it. She thought of taking another shower but dismissed the idea. It wouldn’t be enough, it wouldn’t be soothing, nor would it offer the real release she needed.

And that’s what Wanda needed. Release. It wouldn’t solve all of her problems, not even close, but at this point it would help with the tension she carried everywhere. She reached out and found Steve in his room. She had no doubt his hearing was exceptional, but hopefully he wouldn’t hear this.

She got comfortable in her bed before lifting her dress skirt over her hips. She hadn’t done this in a while, hadn’t been able to after the never-ending experiments and constant monitoring that left her exhausted every night.

 When she reached into her panties, though, she remembered what she had been missing.

She started with light strokes and teasing that had her curling her toes before she even penetrated herself. One finger and then two, she did her best to keep rubbing while she brought her fingers in and out. Her thighs tensed and she felt the pleasure of each stroke as her fingers easily moved inside of herself.

Her panties got in the way when she was ready to go a little harder. She paused just long enough to get them off and kick them away before she was back at it, her fingers as deep as she could get them.

Wanda sighed and let out small moans but couldn’t quite reach her peak. She teased more and even managed a third finger but it just…. it wasn’t….

She reached up and grabbed at her breast, giving both a rough groping until it added to the pleasure but still wasn’t enough.

Her moans grew frustrated but no angle was the right kind of satisfying. When she pressed against her clit it was good, and it made her yelp and her eyes squeeze shut, but that too failed to bring her over the edge. She lifted her hips and kept her legs spread but there was no white explosion or mind-numbing satisfaction. Just pleasure with no release.

She whimpered when another stroke of her fingers failed to bring her to the end.  She was getting to loud and had to pause all her movements to make sure she hadn’t alerted Steve. When she reached out, he was thankfully still in his room and didn’t seem to have any idea what she was doing.

And then she wondered what it would be like if he _did_ know. What it would be like if he could hear every moan, sigh, and frustrated whine.  If he would want her to stop or if he would want to hear her scream, as she was growing desperate herself to do. She hadn’t thought of him like _that_ , the nice guy who never seemed to think of anything but finding his friend. But, he was a man after all, and she wondered what he would think if he came into her room now and saw her with her hand between her legs. Better yet, what he would do.

She started to move a little more anxiously, her thumb a constant pressure on her clit as she imagined Steve standing in her doorway just watching, arms crossed while he leaned against the frame and looked down on her.

Or maybe he wouldn’t just watch, maybe he would come inside and sit on the edge of the mattress while she was to lost to the pleasure to keep her eyes open.

He could touch her. His hands were so much bigger than her own. She imagined those blue green eyes watching each time her fingers disappeared inside of her before he would replace them with his own. They would be an extra stretch and fill her up so much better than she was able to do on her own…

That’s all it took when Wanda arched her back and let out a surprised cry. She had just enough good sense to grab a pillow and managed to muffle the rest of her cries as she came.

When it was all over and she threw the pillow to the side and sucked in a lungful of air. She did feel a little better about everything.

She was relaxed, at least.

* * *

There hadn’t been any new leads in either missing person cases. The former Winter Soldier was a ghost, after all, and Pietro Maximoff may as well have not existed. Wanda found images of her and Pietro and even a few videos at the protests in Sokovia. She watched them over and over but they were a few years old and a lot had changed since then.

She’d been living with Steve just over a month when she found out about the Captain America Exhibit.

“You didn’t tell me about this,” she pointed to the coupon in that mornings paper.

Steve groaned and she thought she might feel his embarrassment, but she tried not to invade his thoughts or his feelings now that there was a trust between them.

“Yeah, it’s a thing.”

“Well have you been?”

“A few times,” he turned down the TV, “I actually had to go steal my old uniform from the place.”

“There’s a story there,” she tapped the coupon, “and you’ll have to tell me all about it when we go here.”

“You actually want to see a museum about me?”

“Of course!” Wanda jumped up and grabbed her bag. “Did you have big plans today?” She asked, knowing very well after his morning run with Sam he was settled to try and narrow down any leads he could get in Europe, just as he had all week. Not that she could judge, she did the same thing minus the morning runs. Sam had tried to get her to go, but running was much more Pietro’s style, she just needed to work on not getting winded so quickly. But she wanted to go out and do something, even for one afternoon.

“Come on,” she insisted, “I’m curious now, I’m gonna see it one way or another. Be my tour guide?”

He really didn’t put up a fight after that. Since she arrived, he’d barely left his apartment for anything personal and she hoped this would at least be enjoyable for him.

“You want me to grab a cab?” Wanda asked once they hit the street.

He hesitated and she felt the reluctance to get in the back of a car, “what is it?”

“Yeah, we should get a cab.”

But she felt the wind like it was running through her hair and knew there had to be a motorcycle around here someplace that he preferred over a cab and traffic.

“Oh, I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before.”

He looked at her funny and she held up her hands, she hadn’t meant to pick up on his thoughts.

He shook it off, “and you never will, at least not with me. They’re dangerous.”

“You know I move things with my mind, don’t you?”

“Good point.”

Wanda felt her heart race with excitement when he brought his bike out. “Um, here.” He took off his jacket and passed it to her along with a helmet.

“Just in case, and it’s going to be cold.”

She smiled and put both on. Steve started the bike up and she carefully climbed on, her hands automatically wrapping around his waist when they pulled out of the garage. The bike felt unsteady and she was just starting to feel second thoughts when they hit the street, her arms tightening around him. She buried her masked face into his back but felt safe enough when they got on to the main road.

It was fun, and Wanda felt herself getting used to the ride when they began to dodge the heavy traffic in the city. The wind was too loud to have a conversation, but she was able to enjoy the part of town she never ventured into on her walks. The Smithsonian was huge with banners hanging all over it, one of them displaying a familiar shield that she’d seen him leave on the couch back home.

He found a spot towards the back and locked things up. She passed him his jacket which he kept close to his chin. He also put on a navy baseball cap that she stared at.

“That’s your big disguise? No false mustache?”

“It actually works really well.”

She snickered as they made their way into the building. “No secret entrance for you?”

“Nope, and were in disguise right now, so hope you brought those coupons.”

She actually hadn’t but they got inside fine, despite Steve keeping his head down and looking like he was on the run from the police.

“Oh wow, they gave you your own wing.” She admired when they made it to his exhibit.

“Yeah, I’m surprised they had enough material for the place.”

Wanda took it all in. She knew Steve Rogers, she lived with him. He was the guy who had way too many books and revealed so little of himself. There was generosity and bottomless kindness from Steve. Captain America was a symbol, and something she hadn’t quite seen in person yet. He was the Avenger she once swore to destroy.  He was the template that her own experimentation wanted to replicate.

Although they were the same person, seeing black and white images of Steve in uniform still seemed like a stranger.

She wandered around, but he wasn’t far behind her. In one video there was a beautiful woman with red lips talking. Wanda couldn’t hear her over all the voices, but she felt Steve tense up when they got to her. Steve was all but speaking out loud when he though _Peggy._

The memories flooded of Steve and this woman, and of a dance that was missed. “I’m sorry,” Wanda sighed and turned away from the monitor. She moved to the plaque in the middle of the room with a familiar face and name on it. “This is the one you’re looking for?”

“Yeah, this is Bucky.”

She read the engraving, the few paragraphs that defined somebody’s entire life. She stared at the face and memorized it, despite having seen flashes of how he was now. Steve joined her but she felt the mourning he tried to cover up, the loss that he always carried with him. Not just for his friend but for all of it. Those black and white videos always playing weren’t just monitor filler, it had once been his life. The items kept on display behind glass were everyday things he once owned and probably never thought would end up in a museum. It was too weird when she put herself in his shoes, left her with a bad taste she wanted to get rid of.

Without thinking, she reached over and squeezed his hand. He looked down surprised but she reached over with her other hand and squeezed his palm again with both of her hands before letting him go.

“We’ll find him.”

“We?”

“Yeah,” Wanda nodded, “we’ll find both of our people.”

She meant it, too. Both Fury and Steve had told her to figure out what she would do once she reunited with Pietro and now she knew. No matter what, she would help find Barnes and get him whatever help he needed. She owed the Captain just as she knew the ache he felt. It was a pain she wanted to help soothe and the first step was to help him find the last connection he had to his old life.

She pulled out her phone and found the videos she’d watched over and over, “this is Pietro.”

He took the phone from her and watched the short clip of the old protests. Wanda, angry and indignant after more buildings collapsed and more Sokovian’s had died terrible deaths. It was just before Strucker found them, and they’d been in orphanages, state homes, and the streets but always together. “His hair is blond now, a reaction to the scepter I think.”

They stayed there for a long time, ignoring the heavy foot traffic around them as they looked at the people they missed terribly.

“So, is that where the uniform you stole used to be?” she pointed to the empty place where all the other mannequins were lined up beneath corresponding portraits.

She got a genuine, happy laugh at that.


	6. Chapter 6

Wanda was watering the few house plants she bought for Steve’s apartment when she felt something was wrong.

“You’re drowning it,” he pulled her from her trance when he came out of his room.

“Someone’s coming,” she told him, setting the pitcher down and watching the door nervously.

“Wanda?”

“He _really_ doesn’t like you.”

She felt this man coming up the elevator and walking confidently down the hall. Steve went over to the door and looked out the peephole before pulling away and motioning Wanda to go.

“Stay in your room and don’t let him know you’re here. This guy hated Nick.”

“And you,” she whispered, grabbing her bag and making sure there was nothing else that might reveal her presence. She was closing her door as quietly as possible when the knocking started. For the first time since Fury left, Wanda muted the phone but kept it within sight. She stayed close to the door, her ear pressed against it and her powers just barely contained as she listened to the false sincerity in the visitor’s voice.

“Rogers, good to see you again!”

“Senator Cortes, how are you doing?”

“Busy, very busy after that Triskelion mess. Still cleaning up, overseeing the reviews of every single agent. You wouldn’t believe the paperwork.”

“Can’t imagine.”

“Well, you _might_ be able to. The investigation into Fury’s death was stalled by everything that happened after. We’ll need your official statement soon… put _that_ mess to bed, am I right?”

“Sure, when?”

They started setting something up when Wanda finally gathered enough courage and extended her powers out. She kept a tight control and had to be precise when she nudged against the Senator’s mind. Patience and subtlety was what it took as she got the barest hints.

Good news was that he didn’t know anything about her presence, though he did suspect that Fury was alive and that Steve knew. Not good, but manageable. She dug a little deeper and to her disgust, felt the man’s feeling of power over Steve. She didn’t understand it, only seeing flashes of a small cabin in the woods that appeared to be long abandoned. They were still talking but it became mute to her as she clawed at the fuzzy image in the Senator’s memory.

“-Tuesday work?”

_The cabin had been off satellite imaging and that was there first clue when they searched out in the woods._

_It was old KGB but later used by the occasional SHIELD agents now suspected to by HYDRA._

_It was a temporary hideout with enough supplies to clean up and prepare a filling meal, but it had long fallen in disrepair._

Wanda groaned, losing her focus and slid down the wall as a headache crippled her. She landed with a soft _thump_ and despite the pain she froze herself and tried to pick up on if she’d given her existence away. When she reached out again it was to no avail, she didn’t have the focus anymore.

She pressed her ear to the door again but the soft murmur of conversation was still going, uninterrupted by her fall.

“Stark and his legion, now that’s something.”

“I hear they’ve done a lot.”

“A lot? That man and his little robots might just put you out of business someday!”

“We could only hope so.”

Time passed and they wrapped things up but before she lost this opportunity, she was back in his mind despite the pain it caused her.

_The cabin’s location was in New York, deep in the woods. The Winter Soldier had been there but that was classified, and it made the Senator happy to know he knew something Captain America was no longer privy to. Things were changing, power shifting. SHIELD and Fury were gone and that left open seats that needed filling…_

Wanda let go, holding back her groan. She’d actually found something about Barnes that might be useful. That made her as gleeful as it did frightened. She’d never gone that far into somebody’s thoughts. Even Pietro she only listened to the surface of things, though she never did have reason to try to dig.

She was so tired after her success that she scooted away from the door and rested her head against the solid wall. Just a few minutes, she just needed a few minutes of sleep.

She got it, because even though she heard the faint sound of a door shutting and the footsteps coming towards her, she could barely open her eyes with the pain

All she could do when he knocked on the door was grunt and move her legs so he could open the door without resistance.

“Hey, are you okay?”

When Wanda managed to get her eyes open, Steve was right there in front of her.

“Wanda, what happened?”

“I saw,” she had to lick her lips and try to get her bearings, “please will you bring me a map of New York?”

“I don’t want to leave you, you look like you’ll pass out any second.”

“I just might, but will you bring me that map first?”

His face scrunched up but he took off to the living room and returned seconds later, book in hand. “Will this work?”

It was an old atlas and she flipped to the page she would need that had two pages dedicated to New York state. She tried to be specific, did her best to remember what she saw in the Senator’s head when she pointed to the north of the state where someplace in the green shading and borders there was a small cabin tucked away. “There’s a safe house out there that’s been abandoned, but the Winter Soldier was there at some point before leaving the country.”

Wanda slept hard after that. She got up a few times but after doing the most basic things like eating or going to the bathroom the fatigue hit her and she was crawling back into bed. She knew it would take time to grow her powers, to grow accustomed and be able to control them. Right now, though, it just wiped her out.

Steve was always there, checking on her and asking if she were okay. Sleep was all she would need though, and she got plenty of that. Except when he knocked at her door late in the evening. He had a glass of water but her heart stuttered when she saw him leaning against the door frame, just as he had in her fantasy. Her face heated up and she was grateful for the cold drink when she finally got the words out.

It was early the next morning when Wanda felt more like herself. After cleaning up she went to the kitchen to gather up some breakfast but put her plans on hold when she felt Steve getting ready to go.

Not on his usual run. There was no sign of Sam and when the Captain stepped out he was dressed casually.

“You’re going to New York, aren’t you?”

“I know they probably searched the place, but I just got to see for myself.”

“I understand,” Wanda set her mug down.

“Thank you. Sharon’s next door if you need anything and I’ll be back- “

“And that’s why I’m going.”

“Wanda, no. You could barely move yesterday.”

“My powers are still new to me. I just need more practice. Besides, I might be able to pick up more than you can if we can even find this cabin.”

He was going to shoot her down again but she rolled her eyes. His consideration was admirable but she knew wouldn’t be left behind. Practice and patience, that’s all she would need in order to use her abilities to the fullest. What better place to start than a possible lead on his friend, and perhaps soon a lead on her brother.

“So, are we taking your bike?”

He glared out the windows before letting go of his arguments and grabbing his shield. “No, got a car for this one.”

* * *

Wanda was quick when she had thrown together a bag of things she might need for the outing, and then they were off. It took a while to get out of the city traffic and actually get going, but she sat back in the passenger seat and enjoyed the scenery outside. So much was happening when she made the trip with Fury that she hadn’t been able to take it all in.

The radio played quietly and the only time they stopped was to grab some greasy fast food. Steve was an easy guy to be around, and their small talk and comfortable silence made the trip pass fast enough despite the long distance.

They didn’t stop in New York city, but she could feel Steve’s nostalgia and longing as though it were her own.

“Where’s Brooklyn?” she asked when she remembered that little tidbit from the museum, eyes focused on the famous city.

He smiled and pointed, “way over there. Not far, but with traffic it’s hours.”

“Have you been able to see it much since you woke up?”

“Not really. My old apartment is gone, and it’s changed a lot. But home is home.”

She nodded, though struggled with the sentiment. Sokovia was her home, and her old apartment gone too, though it was the tomb for her parents. It had been, at least. She imagined they eventually cleaned the rubble up, bones and any traces of the Maximoff parents swept away.

“It’s beautiful,” she admitted, watching the city pass by them sluggishly, the traffic giving her plenty of time to admire it all.

Maybe someday she would go back to her home and be able to do some good for it. That had been the goal, anyway. How everything had spiraled since then.

It was early evening when they hit the woods, the city left far behind them and nothing but the wild ahead. When she reached out all she could feel were the animals. She stretched further out and felt structures that weren’t occupied and areas that might be used for camp sites.

“Try this way,” she pointed to a little dirt road that was an off shoot of the main highway they’d been on.

“It would have to be tucked away good.” She told Steve, catching the red of her eyes in the windows reflection and trusting her gut and powers that this was the right way.

“Will you know it if you see it?”

“Yeah, I think so. I might even be able to pick up on something from it but I’m not sure yet.”

The sun set, but they kept going.

“I think we’ll need to go on foot from here,” Steve parked the car at the end of the dirt road, a small little clearing that could be backed up on but surrounded by trees to thick to drive further.

There were a few paths that Wanda eyed while Steve brought out his shield and passed her a flashlight and jacket, “here.”

“Thanks,” she put it on. Another one of his that was a little too big on her but she was grateful for as the area cooled down. “Let’s try that one,” she pointed to one of the dirt paths leading deep into the woods. She felt something on the other end and figured it would be worth a shot.

“Alright,” Steve took the lead. He didn’t say it out loud, but she could feel his gratitude that she had come, unsure where he would have ended up without her powers.

She just hoped she was right about this.

They left the sight of the car, flashlights out as the only source of light in the dark forest.

“If Pietro were here, this would be so much easier,” Wanda lamented.

“Is he really _that_ fast of a runner?”

“He’s a blur when he goes at his full speed. He’d have gone all the way to this cabin already and be back to the car to tell us if it were right or not. Could probably search these entire woods in an hour, too.”

“The two of you make quite a team.”

“We always have. My mother eventually started to punish us together, because if one of us were in trouble than the other was probably up to no good. It seemed unfair at the time, but I think I get it now.”

Steve gave a soft laugh, nothing to loud but certainly prominent in the quiet woods against the chirping of the bugs. “I was always sick so my mom was happy when Buck and I became friends and she knew I wouldn’t be alone when she left for work. Then, when we got older and started getting into trouble she’d usually try to keep us in the apartment, or at least in the neighborhood.”

“What did you get in trouble for?” Wanda asked, because she couldn’t imagine what the American poster boy could have been up to back then.

“Well, when _Bucky_ got us into trouble. He never treated me like others did. I may have been sick a lot, but we still ended up being stupid kids.”

It was a whole other world she felt from him. The thrill of a roller coaster and the sickness that came after. Hitchhiking and spending the day in different parts of the city. The two of them always together, always having each other’s backs. Steve getting beat up and Barns either jumping in or finding him after and helping him clean up.

She smiled, true but sad as she thought about the life she led before the bombings really started up.

“Pietro and I were always together, too. I don’t think it was just because we're twins either. I think I’ve always been able to read his thoughts and, in some ways, he can read mine. I can’t… we… we’re _connected_. To be honest, my biggest fear since I moved into your apartment is that I will feel that connection snap and know I’ve lost him.”

Steve paused ahead of her and turned to hold her at the shoulders, his flashlight digging unpainfully between his palm and her arms. “Hey, we’re going to find them. Any leads on Bucky or Pietro, you and I will chase them. We’ll bring them home, both of them.”

Wanda felt herself smiling and her eyes well up. She was quick to push the tears away but nodded in agreement, “we’ll drag them if we have to.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Come on, Captain, our first real lead isn’t much further.”

They finally made it to the cabin a few minutes later. It was an old thing, but just as she saw it in the senator’s memories. In the dark it was straight from a horror movie, but she remembered it looked very quaint in the daytime.

“There’s nobody in there now.” She stretched her senses before they got to close.

“Keep an eye out, could be rigged.”

Wanda nodded and stayed close behind him when they knocked the door in. They used their flashlights to take a look around the small space.

It was an open room with a little kitchen against one wall, an old table with mismatched chairs, and a couch that had seen far better days. There was a small closed off area she assumed was the bathroom but other than that there wasn’t much.

Cautious of any wiring or possible traps, Wanda moved against one wall and Steve the other as they searched for any clues. She ran her hand against the walls and tried to use her powers to feel anything that might be there. Her precession still needed work, but she felt the faint pull of _something._ Maybe not related to Barnes, though, given how old this place was.

She paused in one corner, noting it wasn’t nearly as dusty as the rest of the place. Dropping to her knees, she pressed her hands against one of the clearer spots and tried to focus. She couldn’t no matter how hard she tried. It was like studying for a test and seeing exactly what she had repeated to herself over and over to just hours before but being unable to remember when the paper was in front of her. She grabbed onto any string, any whiff of what was once where her hands were now. But she just didn’t have the grasp.

“Wanda, are you okay?”

She opened her eyes and saw the bright red glow of her hands against the wooden floor. She exhaled and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“How long?”

“A few minutes. Are you hurt?”

“No, no. I’m fine, I just can’t get this. Will you come over here please?”

Steve joined her, squatting beside her and looking down at the empty corner. “What do you need?”

“I don’t know… I need to concentrate, but I just can’t seem to grab onto whatever’s here.” She thought for a minute and then figured it couldn’t hurt to try something. “Will you put your hand on my shoulder?”

Steve did, like he had in the woods. It was a firm grip and she focused on that when she reached out again. Her fingers pressed against the floor and behind her closed eyelids she saw the red glow. His hands were like an anchor and she felt safe to let herself go to the flash of images that hit her.

The cabin was old but she only needed to see the occupant from a weeks ago. Shifting and shifting with no sense of how much time was passing, she finally saw a man with long dark hair and bright blue eyes stumble into this place. His clothes were a little too big but he felt comfortable in them, glad to be rid of the mask and googles he always wore. He had a bag of stolen goods and a sleeping bag he unrolled in this corner where her hands were now. He stared at the roof and woke up with a throat raw from screaming. He ran outside one night to punch a tree when more memories returned and Wanda knew if she looked out there now she’d see the fallen timber. He had a notebook and in it he wrote… he wrote about a man on the bridge. That man was Steve, she could see that now. Chaos and so much pain… Barnes knew he had to get out of the country… had to go somewhere he couldn’t be found and to stay hidden while his memories returned. There was a map of Europe he traced his fingers across, from Sokovia to Ukraine but she felt the way his eyes lingered on Romania…

She couldn’t pull away at first and had to focus on Steve’s hands still squeezing her shoulder. His mind was right there, and she held onto that feeling as her hands pulled off of the wooden floor and she could escape back into her own head.

“I think… I think I know where he went.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously, Wanda and Steve went upstate for a lead on the Winter Solider where they were successful. Drama to follow

They made their way back to the car. It was getting cold out but the walk wasn’t long and Wanda thought her body might be numbed from the use of her powers. When they made it back, they both reached for the heat once the car was going, trying to get some warmth back. It heated up quickly, and they were back on the dirt road.

It wasn’t until they made it to the paved road that Steve spoke.

“Wanda, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you did back there.”

“It was nothing.”

“No, you don’t understand how much it helped. When I first realized Bucky was alive all I could think about was getting him back. I know he’s not the same person he once was, and that he will never be able to go back, but I just need to know that he’s safe. I have to know he isn’t in anymore pain. It may seem pointless or even hopeless, but I want to see to it that he never suffers again.

Wanda didn’t look at him but kept her focus on the sky as she spoke softly. “Paprikash was the last meal I had with my parents. Pietro and I were ten years old when the bombings started. They’d been going for a while, but never close to us. It must have been the first one that day that went straight through our apartment, no warning, no siren, _nothing_. Our parents went through the hole in the ground because of where they choose to sit that night. Pietro grabbed me and we hid beneath the bed while everything around us crumbled. The sirens were going off by then but everything was falling and there was no escaping it. We were trapped together. A second shell crashed not far from us, and I held my breath waiting for it to explode. I thought I would die then, but it didn’t go off. It said _Stark Industries_ and I read it over and over.”

She licked her lips, feeling the stinging tears and the way her voice began to shake. Steve said nothing but she could tell he was watching her as much as he was the road. “We were in there for two days, looking at that shell just waiting for it to finally blow.  All I could taste was dust and thought the dehydration might kill us before the bomb did. Through it all, I don’t think I would have ever bothered to take the rescue workers hands when they finally broke through had Pietro gone through the hole in the floor with our parents. My brother is with bad people right now and doesn’t know it, and we will never get back what we used to be, but you’re right. Just knowing he isn’t in pain anymore… or me… that might be enough to start over. It’s not hopeless, Steve, it’s how we learn to do more than survive.”

She didn’t look back at him, and she kept her powers close to the chest, choosing not to listen to his thoughts or feel what he was feeling. She flinched when his hand clasped her shoulder but relaxed into the firm hold after only a minute while trying to get control over the stinging behind her eyes.

“Wanda, I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

She was exhausted after a day spent on the road and perhaps the overuse of her powers, at least more than she had practiced yet. Emotionally, she had drained herself after opening up to Steve like she had. They still drove in a comfortable silence through the dark, but she knew something had changed between them. It wasn’t _bad,_ but she knew he must see her as something different than he had when they first left D.C.

Either way, she let herself nod off with her forehead pressed to the glass window. It didn’t work out so well given how bumpy the old road was, not to mention all of the turns there were. She would slip in and out of sleep but Wanda wasn’t sure she was ever out for more than five minutes before there was another pothole.

She gave up on getting even a light nap in when her head bumped against the glass.

“Sorry,” Steve’s voice was deep. She looked over at him and didn’t need to summon any of her power to see that he was equally as tired as her.

“I don’t think you can drive all the way back to D.C. tonight. Let’s just get a room.”

A testament of his own fatigue, he hardly put up a fight. “You sure? I can get us back to the apartment tonight, just got to take my time.”

“See, right there,” she pointed to a sign that advertised a town not far from them, “even you must need sleep after a while.”

He gave her a small smile and nodded, “yeah, even I sleep.”

She sat up and tried to keep herself awake until they found a place, mostly because she was afraid he might try to keep going if she stayed out. They pulled up to a small motel just off the road. It was older, but appeared clean and advertised vacancies.

“Be right back.”

Wanda nodded, and sunk into her seat. She felt something, like a whisper at the edge of her mind that she couldn’t quite hear. Not that she was really listening to that whisper, she was too busy trying to keep her eyes open.

Steve came back not long after she started to really nod off. “Got a room with two beds, that okay?”

“Mhmmm? Yeah, that’s fine,” she mumbled as she forced herself to sit up when they pulled up to the exterior door.

They both grabbed their bags and stumbled into the simple room. Now that there was a bed right in front of Steve, he stopped pretending to be so awake. His usual good posture disappeared and she thought he might just go to bed then. “You mind if I wash up first?” Wanda asked.

“It’s all yours.”

She was quick in the bathroom to change into her pajamas and wash her face. She didn’t even bother to brush her teeth before she went back into the bedroom where Steve was waiting. “Night,” she nodded to him.

“Goodnight.”

Wanda collapsed onto the bed furthest from the door. She just barely got the covers over her and was asleep before Steve even came back into the room.

* * *

Her body locked up physically. Mentally, she was woken so suddenly that it was a jolt to her heart.

_Wanda!_

The growing panic melted into disbelief.

_Pietro?_

_Wanda, where are you? Are you okay?_ He asked through their fragile connection. She strained to hear him but realized this must have been part of the whisper she heard earlier in the car. Like a bad phone connection, she had to listen very closely to catch his words.

_I’m fine. Tell me where you are and I’ll find you._ She shouted through their mental bond.

_Strucker. I tried to find you but he said… hurt- thought dead._

Wanda knew she was losing him, but he was alive and he was there somewhere in the world talking to her.

_Pietro please, we don’t have much time. Where are you? You’re in danger, they’re liars._

There was nothing but her own thoughts. She reached out into that void and screamed.

_Hey! Give some warning before you do that._

She gave a cry of relief, _I thought I’d lost whatever this is._

_Wanda, where are you?_

_In Washington, I’m safe._

_Washington! In America? Why are you there?_

_It’s okay. I’m okay, but where are you?_

There was another long pause _I don’t know._

_What do you mean you don’t know?_

_I mean, we’ve been on the move for a while._

_So, get away from them, Pietro. Get away and meet me in America._

_Wanda, you need to get out of that country. Are they keeping you prisoner? The second you see an escape just run and I’ll find you._

_I’m not a prisoner!_ She yelled it, but she wasn’t sure it carried over to him. She repeated herself, _I’m not a prisoner, I’m safe. You’re in danger. Pietro, please leave them._

_You can’t be safe. Who has you? They’re liars, Wanda. Don’t trust any of them._

_But I can trust one of them, I know I can._ She told him without thinking, the memory of meeting Steve for the first time at the forefront of her thoughts.

_Who is that?_

_Somebody we can trust. And another._ She pictured Nick Fury the last time she saw him, with his one good eye looking back at her and promising he would find Pietro.

_Don’t be naïve. Now tell me truly, have either of those men hurt you?_

_Pietro, no, they’re good people._ She thought of Steve _he’s my… he’s my friend._

There was a void and she felt the magnitude of their distance from each other. She really was losing him this time as their minds began to separate back to their own bodies.

_Pietro, I love you, please be safe._ She called when she thought he might be able to hear.

_Love you._ She heard his familiar voice before she was alone in her thoughts.

She gained back control of her body, but she felt stiff from her muscles being so tensed through the conversation. She was on her stomach, her eyes wet against her pillow when she lifted herself up and took a deep breath. It had been real, that much she was sure of. It had been well over a month since she’d spoken to Pietro, the longest she’d ever gone without talking to her twin. But he was out there, alive albeit in an unknown location, and he had found a way to open a conversation with her. Wanda thought over every word he’d spoken to her, imagined him somewhere far away thinking the same about her.

And she cried. She cried so hard that her breath came in fat ugly gulps around each sob she couldn’t contain. She cried for everything she’d lost and everything that was missing from her in that moment. She wept until she woke Steve up, much to her guilt, and she waived him away before he could say anything, “I’m sorry, go back to bed.” She sniffled.

“Wanda, what happened?” he sat up, snapped to consciousness without a hint of exhaustion in his voice.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

She sat up and fumbled for the light, but Steve beat her to the lamp and she put her hands in her lap while she tried to calm down even if she kept crying.

“Pietro, I spoke to Pietro just now.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure, but it was like he was right here. Somehow maybe my powers?”

They sat on the edge of their beds, their knees nearly touching. “Earlier when we were at the cabin,” Steve spoke in deep thought, “and you used your powers to see when Bucky was there, do you think that had anything to do with it?”

She was reigned in her crying and focused on relaxing her body. “Maybe? I did tap into things in a way I haven’t really done before. When you were getting this room, it felt like there was something in my head but I thought I was just tired.”

“Do you feel anything now?”

She closed her eyes but the disconnection had been so strong when Pietro departed that she was certain he was well and truly gone. “No, he’s… he’s not here anymore.”

This fresh absence was worse than the first time when they’d been separated in Sokovia. She’d been on the defense, then. Had to watch her own back and figure things out from there. So much had happened in those first few days that being alone had to come second. Now she felt safe if not a little lonely, but to have spoken to Pietro and then have him ripped away again? There was a wound open and raw from that sort of pain.

“I don’t know what to do.” She admitted to Steve.

“About what?” he spoke softly and she appreciated it as much as she wished she could just forget everything.

“Any of this,” she shrugged, “but you must understand. It’s frustrating that they’re out there and we’re right here. I told Pietro I was in Washington but I don’t think he’ll be dropping by anytime soon. Just got to keep chasing I guess.”

Wanda knew he’d understand. He wasn’t exactly hiding his location from Barnes, either.

“Sometimes it’s easier to not think of what’s been lost.”

“Yeah,” Wanda agreed reluctantly. He was right, because for all her fortune and comfort, there was no enjoying it when she wasn’t sure where her brother was or how he was doing. If only he’d known his location…

“At least we have an idea of Barnes’ location.” She added as an afterthought, for all their troubles they’d made _some_ progress, “will you go to Romania?”

“Now that I have a general idea I’ll start looking for any leads there. But no, I won’t leave until I have _something_ to go off of.”

“I’ll go with you,” she spoke immediately, “Romania isn’t far from Sokovia, I know a bit of the language.”

Steve nodded, their knees bumped together when he shifted. She was calming down, enough that she might actually be able to go back to bed. “Fury might not like that.”

“But would you be okay with it?”

“As long as you stayed back, at least until you got some training in.”

She perked up, “would you be willing to train me?”

“We can start practicing. How’s your hand to hand?”

“Not so good,” she admitted. She’d never been much of a fighter, but after surviving the experiments she knew she relied too much on the red energy she wielded rather than her physical body.

“We can start working on that. I’m not sure how much I can help you with your telekinesis, but we can practice with that too.”

Wanda still felt down after their long day. Being torn from Pietro again was another slap, but she couldn’t help but be excited that Steve would help her get stronger. “I’m still not joining the Avengers,” she reminded him.

Her words rolled off him with a slight shrug, “you should probably learn to defend yourself, regardless of where you end up when we find your brother.”

“You know, all things considered, you and I are very fortunate.” _Because at least we have each other. Not alone through this._ But she wouldn’t say that bit out loud.

“Yes, we are.”

Wanda brought her legs up and sat crisscross. It was cold outside and they hadn’t turned on the heat when they got in. The blankets had been heavy though, so she hadn’t noticed. She drew the comforter up around her but didn’t lie down quite yet.

“Let’s be grateful for our lives and freedom,” Wanda told him.

“How’s that?”

“I’m not really sure,” she confessed, “but I don’t think it would be so wrong for us to do things for ourselves once in a while. Is there anything you enjoy?”

Steve was silent and she knew she’d made him uncomfortable. “Well don’t you have any hobbies?” she pushed, but she was slow to realize he probably didn’t take a lot of time for himself. The soldier, the leader of the Avengers, the man looking for his friend. He read a lot, but other than that she never saw him do much else but work and go for runs with Sam.

That was okay. She didn’t really do much herself or have many hobbies. Before Strucker, she’d been more or less on the streets and had to focus on day to day surviving, and she had long lost her childhood interests.

Like pulling teeth, he finally gave her an answer that seemed semi-true, “I like movies.”

“I haven’t watched many, but we should try to see some.”

Steve smiled, “we will, but what makes you happy?”

“I’m still learning that for myself,” she was honest, “but I’d like to find out.”

They settled back into their respective beds not long after that. Wanda’s body was relaxed and sunk into the mattress when she reached out and tried to find Pietro. No luck, whatever connection they had opened before was closed for now. She did feel Steve beside her. A steady, warm, and safe presence that she held onto lightly. Her breaths matched his and she thought they might have fallen asleep at the same time.

* * *

It didn’t take them long to get to New York the next morning. Wanda insisted on seeing the city, and so they took a detour and went into Brooklyn. With the traffic, it took it was a while before they were in Steve’s birthplace. He managed to find parking and the two of them jumped out to go for a walk around the neighborhood.

Once again, Wanda admired the skyscrapers and the constant noise. This time, however, she was seeing it through Steve’s eyes. Their stroll was lazy down the various blocks, directionless too, but very enjoyable for Wanda who had never been exposed to so much _life_ around her. With her powers, it was a consistent hum of thoughts and feelings. Some good, some bad, but a different sensation than she was used to that made it all okay.

Steve’s nostalgia might have been obvious even without the benefit of her abilities, but she couldn’t help but wonder if it was sad to see this place different than he once knew.

Putting herself in his shoes, she wasn’t sure she could wake up decades in the future and walk through Sokovia with such peace. She knew she would probably be a mess in his position.

“I like it here,” she admitted, “it’s full of life. Lots of different people. Back in D.C. everybody is so focused on agendas.”

“Is it getting easier for you to read thoughts?” 

“I haven’t really been practicing, just picking up on things here and there… back in Strucker’s lab when they gave me the tests it seemed so hard. It’s getting easier now.”

They slowed down and took a seat in a smaller park. Not the famed Central Park, but a cute one with lots of flowers and kids running around. Wanda brought her leg up and relaxed on the cold metal bench, “what was it like before?”

“It was home, full of people I knew. Not like this, but I think I can see some of what it used to be.”

She hesitated but her curiosity got the better of her. “Will you show me?”

“How?”

“Just… think of how you remember it.” She reached up slowly, giving him time to decline or shoo her away. He didn’t, and her hands rested against his temple very lightly.

“Just think of it?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, feeling the pull in his memories.

Brooklyn was home, and it was beautiful. Wanda took a deep breath and felt that wave of love he felt for this place. There was the longing for what it used to be and the acceptance and welcoming to what it was now. But maybe not, since he was hiding away in Washington. No, that was for Bucky…

She pulled out of his mind, realizing it was getting to personal.

“Thank you,” she told him, bringing her hands back to her side, “I wished I could have seen it the way you did.”

“Apparently, you could.”

“That woman thinks we’re a couple.” Wanda nodded discreetly to a mother a few benches from them. She was pretending to read a magazine while watching her kids and now side eyeing the two of them.

“Oh yeah? What did she think when you had your hands on me?”

Wanda huffed a small laugh, “that I might be breaking up with you.”

“Better than her magazine.”

“Oh, much more entertaining. Now she’s not sure it’s over. She’s rooting for us.”

She took it as a personal victory that she got Steve Rogers to give a real chuckle.

“Seal the deal for her,” she asked him, “get me hotdog and soda?” she nodded to the vendor at the center of the park.

“Any condiments?”

“Mustard.”

He wrinkled his nose, “never been a fan. What kind of soda?”

“Surprise me.”

Wanda waited patiently for him to return. She checked her phone but there was nothing new, so she enjoyed the sun and the people around her. Sokovia had beautiful days, but so often it was overcast and rainy.

“Any updates from our magazine reader?”

“We’ve lost her interest now that there won’t be a dramatic dumping.”

She was slow to eat her lunch and sip on her drink, Steve doing the same with his own meal. Around them, people remained oblivious to Captain America and, well, whatever they might have called her. They sat back and watched those around them, two anonymous figures just finding what peace they could. “What’s he thinking?” Steve nodded to man sitting alone across the park.

“Take a guess,” she listened to the man and got the gist of what was going on.

“Wearing a suit on a Saturday and all alone, doesn’t look to happy either. Got called into work on the weekend and had a bad day?”

“Nope, two more chances.”

“Okay, was it a bad date?”

“That _would_ make somebody unhappy wouldn’t it? But you’re still wrong.”

“Visiting his parents?”

“So close. His brother’s getting married and today was the engagement party. He’s in love with the would-be bride.”

“That’s not good.” Steve breathed out after a beat.

“No, it’s really not. But he thinks it’s for the best and wont stand in the way. Still not easy, though.”

They watched the man in the suit for a while before Steve nodded to a woman walking quickly across the park, “what about her?”

“Oh, you’ll _never_ guess this one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, wow. That was a long time to update. This chapter I like as a nice little break before things get chaotic. Sorry for the long wait. Hope everybody enjoyed Endgame??? My feelings are mixed but overall thought it was a solid conclusion.


	8. Chapter 8

Wanda ran until she thought she would puke before she finally gave it a rest and collapsed off to the side. She was just catching her breath when Sam joined her. His breathing was heavy but he did a good job of covering up how much he had really pushed it this time. “I don’t think he’s even winded yet.” He nodded off to Steve who was still running at full speed around the track.

“Wonder how long he could go.” Wanda sighed, sitting up and leaning against the same tree as Sam.

“Too many for me to even pretend to keep up with.”

They watched Steve for a while, while the sun was just barely starting to come out and light the sky.

“So,” Sam started once he was breathing normally, “any leads on your brother?”

“No, nothing in the news and nothing here,” she tapped her temple. In the weeks since she had last spoken to Pietro, Wanda had tried over and over to reopen the connection without any luck.

“Hey, something will come up eventually. You just have to be patient.”

“And not die from all of this running.” She lamented.

“And not die from all this running.” Sam laughed, “are you going to start practicing with your, ugh, other powers soon?”

“Soon. Steve said I needed to finish conditioning first. Maybe if I survive all these runs we’ll get there eventually.”

“Hey, it’ll get easier. Just got to stay on it.”

“Yeah,” she groaned, “but it’s so much sweating.”

“You two giving up?” Steve called, taking a detour from the running path to come stand over them.

“Hey now, take it easy. I’m just here to keep Maximoff company.”

“You could barely speak when you first sat down.”

“Shhhh, just give me this.”

Sam was shaky when he stood up but helped Wanda stand as well. “Okay you two I got to go.  Wanda get some rest, Steve don’t push it.”

“You ready?” Steve asked.

“Yep, to the gym?”

Since they returned from New York, Steve had kept his promise and had been training her as best he could. They still hadn’t moved on to her using her powers, but she was getting into better shape than she had ever been in before.

Running was Wanda’s least favorite, but fight training could be fun. She was well aware Steve had to hold back almost all of his strength when they did this, but she enjoyed the challenge. Training in different styles took a lot of work, but she thought she might actually be getting somewhere with it.

She hadn’t had much combat training in Sokovia. Maybe, with time they would have gotten to it. The parameters of her powers were still being measured at the time. Dr. List would spend hours holding up blank flashcards to her and asking what he saw on the other side of them. A lot of work at the time, but child's play, really, as she was coming to learn that she could do far more than read shallow thoughts.

They took a car to an old SHIELD gym that was still closed to most people, where they could work in relative privacy.

“When we move on to you using your powers,” Steve had told her when they first began training, “you’ll most likely be fighting long distance most of the time. It’s still good to be able to defend yourself from an enemy that gets too close.”

The gym was underground and on the older side of things. She had never seen anyone else here, but that wasn’t surprising given that there were newer gyms open to agents who had been cleared to go back to work. There were all sorts of equipment and training centers, but Wanda and Steve went straight to the giant matted area at the center or the room.

“Today we’ll work on getting out of holds. Remember what I told you last time?”

“Keep my airway open, it’s probably going to come down to either my legs or hips, and to drop all my weight down first thing and see if that will loosen the hold at least.”

“Alright, let’s start.”

She knew he was holding back as per usual, but when he reached around her and held her in a light chokehold, she swore there would be no escaping his grip. First, she pushed back and kept her throat free of obstruction. Next, she snaked her foot behind his and tried to trip him but he twisted to the side and planted his foot down to keep his balance and throw off her center of gravity. She was fast when she reached around and got her arm over his neck, digging her fingers into his neck and going for the ears. She gave a rough pull that actually loosened his grip enough for her to shove back with her hips and try to escape. She just managed to wiggle away when Steve got one arm around her waist and the other around her neck to pull her back into his hold. Trying the next tactic seemed silly given his strength, but she went completely limp and actually fell about an inch before he stopped the fall.

All thoughts of getting away fell apart when she noticed just how close they _really_ were. One arm was just under her breast, and her ass was pressed back against him at just the right angle. She held her breath, startled first by the change in adrenalin to get away to a desire to stay and push back for all the wrong reasons.

Wanda knew she found Steve attractive, but it was one thing to think of him in the privacy of her own room, and another to entertain _those_ thoughts when they were in the middle of training. She hadn’t considered what she felt towards him as anything more than finding him handsome, but now she wondered if she’d slipped into ‘crush’ territory without realizing it.

She knew no good would come from thinking of Steve as anything more than a friend. A friend she could get along with and live amicably with. Clouding her judgment with more than that meant potentially compromising Pietro’s safety and her and her brother’s futures. _Nothing_ could come before the last of her family and so she knew she’d need to squash any feelings that went beyond friendship right then and there.

“Remember to breathe,” Steve reminded, oblivious to her internal conundrum. Gone was the technique and form she had tried in previous spars. She was thrashing and squirming when she tried to escape this time, pushing against and away from his hold. “You’re going to burn up a lot of energy this way.”

“Then how do I get out of this?” She hissed, growing slightly desperate to escape.

“You were on to it before, get your arm free again. It’s okay to fight dirty if that’s how you protect yourself.”

She wrestled her arm out again and got it around his shoulders. She jabbed her fingers against his neck. It might not have worked on Steve Rogers very well, but it would at least slow down another man. With the loose grip she pivoted sharp and jammed her elbow into his stomach. As soon as she managed to land a hit she was able to take a giant leap away from him.

“Good job,” Steve spoke while rubbing where she’d hit him. “You’re getting better at this.”

“Thanks.”

“Want to give it another try?”

Her first instinct was to say yes, but Wanda knew she needed to get some distance between them for now.

“Actually, can we go to the punching bags?”

* * *

Wanda skipped the morning run a few days later, opting to sleep in and give her muscles a break. She knew the moment the front door opened, it wasn’t Steve or Sam.

She brought up her defenses and scanned the intruder with her powers, detecting somebody who had clearly been here before. Not a hostile, but also somebody who Wanda wasn’t sure she could trust entirely. This person was quick to realize the apartment wasn’t empty and took a seat at one of the kitchen stools to wait patiently.

Wanda contemplated calling Steve and getting him to come home right away, but pocketed her phone with the call screen ready to go instead.

The woman was waiting for her when she got down the hall, legs crossed and seeming completely at home. A light scan of her mind revealed very little, as she was keeping her thoughts and feelings blank, likely until she had a feel for the situation. That must have taken years of training to master.

Wanda already recognized her, though.

This was the redhead from Fury’s memories albeit slightly older than the way the man remembered her. Now that Wanda was really seeing her, she thought this must be another Avenger. The grainy footage from the New York attacks had glimpses of a redhead killing swarms of aliens but she was just now able to make the connection.

“Well, hello.”

“Hello to you. I’m Wanda Maximoff.”

“Natasha Romanoff. Is Steve around?”

“He’s on a run with Sam.”

“Ah, and you decided to skip going?”

“I went yesterday. No need to kill myself two days in a row.”

Natasha smiled just slightly, “so you’re a _friend_ of Steve’s?”

Wanda tilted her head and thought she might have felt a genuine curiosity somewhere in there, even if she didn’t like the emphasis that was put on ‘friend.’

“I guess you could say that. The better description would be houseguest. Nick Fury brought me here for the time being.”

At this, Natasha perked up. “Fury. Where did he find you?” But Wanda already knew that Natasha had narrowed her accent to Sokovian and was trying to break down what region.

“Sokovia. Now while I’m making my own waffle, do you want one?”

* * *

As it turned out, Natasha was a fan of waffles.

“-and until either Fury or Steve and I find Pietro, I’ll be staying here.”

“But you’re also helping with Barnes?”

“When I can.”

“And how’s that?”

Wanda passed the whipped cream over, which Natasha put a healthy amount of onto her waffles, “after my time in Strucker’s lab, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

Natasha’s eyebrows pinched together, but she didn’t ask any more questions or push for a better explanation.

“Does Steve know about these tricks?”

“He does.”

“Well then, they must be quite impressive.”

“They’ve come in handy,” with this, she would not elaborate until she got to know Natasha a little better. Maybe the redhead acknowledged this, because she leaned back in her seat and took a break from her breakfast.

“I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I was found by an agent who refused to kill me. He brought me to Fury and I was offered a second chance.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he offered me a place to stay, too. It took me a while to get myself better.”

For the first time since Natasha had shown up, her mental blocks wavered and Wanda caught just the briefest flash of an old memory. A man, with a bow and arrow pointed directly at her that was slowly lowered.

 _How_ old _are you?_

“I didn’t trust either of them at first, but this… it’s not so bad.”

“Could be worse.” Natasha agreed, and they were both lost to their own thoughts for a beat.

Natasha gave no outward indication, but Wanda knew that she had also felt the moment Steve arrived.

“Sam’s with him, too.” She offered.

Natasha raised one eyebrow, already making her own calculations on Wanda’s abilities. “That’s good. I think he can help.”

“With what?”

“Stick around. I think you’ll be able to help as well.”

They took their time finishing their breakfast until Steve and Sam finally got in. They both hesitated when they saw Natasha, but Wanda thought there was a real a happy reunion underneath the initial surprise.

“Rogers, I like your new friend.”

“Romanoff, I figured you’d be deep underground for a while.”

“Oh, I was. Had to rebuild my network and start from scratch. While I was doing that, I came across a pretty well supplied HYDRA base. I thought of taking it out on my own… but it is pretty well guarded.”

“Sounds like an important mission,” Sam was nonchalant, but Wanda knew he was interested in getting into the fray.

“If my suspicions are correct, and they usually are, this place has an isolated server that will have a pool of HYDRA intelligence for the taking. Could be useful.”

“Where is this place?” Steve asked.

“Massachusetts, not far.”

“Alright, we need to figure out their security and guard rotations, exactly how many hostiles we’ll be encountering. At nightfall we’ll move in and locate this server. Sam and I will secure the room while you collect the information. Get in get out, keep it simple.”

“Sounds like a good plan, Rogers, but what about Wanda?”

The brunette perked up, “yeah, what am I supposed to do?”

“Stay here and go nowhere near Massachusetts. You’re not ready.”

Wanda didn’t want to argue with him over this. She knew she could handle the mission and that she should be there given that there might be information about Pietro. Computer servers _maybe,_ but all she needed was to listen to the thoughts of somebody who had seen him recently, or had some sort of connection. That was something only _she_ could do. For the sake of avoiding the fight, Wanda did her best to relax.

“Sam, can I try something with you really quick?”

“Ugh, sure.”

“Ok, just… just watch the TV or something.”

This was one of her powers she’d practiced with small animals and the occasional stranger in the park. It wasn’t perfected, but she thought she was getting better with her influences.

She waived her hands close together, feeling the familiar red energy that grew from the movement. Steve immediately looked to Natasha, Wanda assumed to gauge her reaction. She missed what the redhead thought of it, as her focus went to Sam when she pushed her influence on him.

He might have been afraid for only a second once the scarlet passed by him. His eyes flashed red for the barest of seconds before returning to their natural color. The manifestations of her control disappeared and he moved robotically to the door, opened it, and walked out.

She released the energy and sat back. Only a moment later Sam reopened the door and came back in.

“We really need to bring her with us. That was weird.”

“What was it like?” Natasha questioned a bit harshly.

“Like… I just wanted to walk out the door and so I did.”

Steve sighed, arms crossed and leaned against the wall, “you stay close at all times and don’t go off on your own. You don’t push it with your powers either. If it becomes too much, say something as soon as you think you need a break. When we’re in there, you follow my lead. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“When do we leave?”

“Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everybody who commented! Your words mean so much to me. Sorry this chapter is short, but more to come.


	9. Chapter 9

Natasha drove way too fast for anybody’s comfort. She weaved through traffic, and once on the interstate ignored all speed limits as she maneuvered along. Wanda was certain they’d be pulled over, but it never happened as they headed north. How they avoided detection was anybody’s guess, but they made good time.

Steve went over the plan with a better idea once he had a satellite image of the base and the terrain around it.

All in all, it seemed like a simple mission that, if executed right, wouldn’t be any trouble. At least, one could only hope.

The drive should have taken them all afternoon, but before evening hit Natasha was pulling the SUV over by a small lake. “It’s about a mile from here.”

They got out, each stretching and grabbing their gear. Sam didn’t say anything, but Wanda could feel even without her powers his gratitude to be out of the speeding car. It reminded her a bit of when she had first gotten off the quinjet that had brought her to New York.

“Red Wing is up.” Sam dropped his goggles while a small drone shot off in the direction of the base.

“What do you see?”

“Small post, infrared shows a large structure underground. I only make about a dozen hostiles but the place has at least three more levels I’m not seeing.”

“When we get closer I might be able to pick up on more,” Wanda offered.

“Upper level will probably be tech guys in hiding,” Natasha was thoughtful as she considered the situation, “we have to be careful though. If they even get a whiff of us they will fry those computers and all of the info will be gone. Hostiles on the lower levels will be easy to take out.”

“Let’s go.”

Wanda knew she had to stay close to Steve. That had been the deal. But as they got closer to the base, she began to pick up on all sorts of people inside, most of whom didn’t seem particularly trained or ready for what was coming. If she felt more confident about her abilities to influence, as she had with Sam earlier, she might have tried to use that for everybody inside.

“Do you have a head count?” Steve was quiet beside her once they were in eyesight of the entrance. There were two guards by the door, but they were playing cards and didn’t seem very attentive.

She reached out, deep below their feet to the structure that housed so many secrets. “The twelve Sam saw and on the lower levels… at least twenty trained men.”

“Okay. Now stay close.”

“Got it.”

“Natasha, take out the guards. Sam and I will breach the door. You and Wanda follow in after.”

As soon as Steve gave the signal, they sprung into action. Natasha was so fast that all Wanda could see was one man go down and then a black clad leg swing around and take the other one down. She’d done all despite the twenty feet of open space she’d had to get through before she even made contact. No alarms went off once they made it inside. A small room with little more than stairs that went below was in the cemented post. Steve took the lead, but the space was so narrow that Wanda ended up staying close despite how much further ahead he seemed at first.

“Computer servers this way, cover me!” Natasha called over her shoulder, but she had already disappeared into a large room that made up most of the first floor. The door looked like it would have been formidable and was easily six inches thick, but it had been left propped open for those who came and went. Inside, there were bundles of wires lining almost every surface and connecting each server to each other. Sam, Natasha, and Steve all did fast work of taking down everybody around them. There was only one for Wanda and she threw him against the ceiling and let him fall to the ground where he landed out cold. The alarms started then, though who triggered it was a mystery.

“This will take a few minutes.” Natasha pulled out a flash drive and began to bypass encryptions.

“Sam, take the left stairs. Wanda, we’ll take the right.”

“On it!” Sam yelled, already running down to the next level.

Steve used his shield like an extension of himself and bulldozed everybody ahead of them. Only one got through, but she slammed him against the wall and jumped over him to keep up with Steve.

“You good?” He called over his shoulder.

“Yeah. Up ahead there’s six coming up from the next level.”

Wanda was feeling more confident, and when Steve charged after their next threat, she reached out and shoved three down the steps they’d just come up.

They tried to stay close to the first level where Natasha was, but as more spilled out they had to meet them head on the subsequent level below.

It was three floors from the surface that the walls opened just as they finished off the last of the men.

Panels moved away and in their place were barrels of some heavy-duty guns. They began to fire almost immediately and she just had seconds to bring up her own shield, as unpracticed as it was. The spray of bullets seemed to be hitting everything around them, destroying the walls and killing the unconscious men on the ground. She saw Sam make it back up the stairs, but Steve grabbed her and hurled both of them down the fourth level.

His shield absorbed his fall and he absorbed hers, as his arms kept them together. They scrambled up to assess for any more incoming men. The sound of the guns going off continued, a little too loud for her and she tried to get her bearings. Cement began to fall, and Wanda felt her entire body seize.

_Can’t…. this building can’t collapse… we’ll be trapped… not again, God please don’t let me live that again!_

“The wall’s going to come down,” Steve pointed to where the machine guns fired at the wall above them.

“We’ll be trapped! This whole building will come down and we’ll be buried!”

Steve looked at her, and despite all of the chaos around them she thought she could pick up on his memory of her in the car just weeks ago. _All I could taste was dust and thought the dehydration might kill us before the bomb did._

“Wanda, it’s not going to collapse. There’s a lot of support beams around us, that wall is just the only thing stopping those bullets right now.

She nodded, but still felt sick when she looked up and saw more cement.

“What do we do? Those guns can’t go much longer, can they?”

“No, they can’t, but we need to get out of the way until they run out of ammo.”

“There’s a secret passage right there.” She pointed to an unassuming section of the wall.

He grabbed her arm and got the hidden door to open just as the machine guns took down the section of wall between them and the next floor. The cement crumbled in large chunks as bullets began to spray at eye level of where they had just been standing.

Wanda tripped when Steve pulled her inside. He got the door shut and was able to speak without yelling now that they were out of the immediate shooting range. “Shouldn’t be much longer.”

“Let’s hope so.” She eyed the corridor that bent out of sight. When she reached out, she found a small room that wasn’t anything special. Storage, maybe even a panic room.

Wanda released her breath. Her palms went flat against the wall to feel even the slightest signs of collapse starting.

Steve was breathing hard but was getting it under control far faster than she was.

Their shoulder brushed together just when their ear pieces went off and Natasha’s husky voice came in, “I’m out and on my way back to the rendezvous with the package.”

Sam followed seconds later, “my exit was blocked. Almost out on an alternative route. Will meet at the rendezvous.”

Steve buzzed in next, “Wanda and I are held up. We’re on our way as soon as we can.”

“You okay Cap? Need back up?”

“No, just meet Natasha, we’ll be up shortly.”

It was silent on the channel after that, but the guns kept shooting like they had an unlimited supply of bullets.

“They must know we’re still inside the compound. They’ll be gathering up the rest of their forces while the guns are still going. Either expecting our bodies or a fight.” Steve decided.

“What should we do?”

“Can you feel where they’re at?”

“Let me try.” She pressed her palms harder against the wall and tried to find the rest of the HYDRA soldiers. “Two levels below. There’s only eight.”

One of the guns finally ran out of bullets, the others followed not long after. Her ears were ringing but she could make out the heavy bootsteps as the last eight started combing each floor. Steve grabbed his shield and was preparing for the fight but Wanda reached out and grabbed his shoulder. “Wait,” she whispered.

He came back and looked at her curiously. “Your eyes are red again.”

“I’m trying to get into their heads and see if they know anything.”

“Wanda, the last time you did this it knocked you out for nearly a day.” He hissed.

“Just let me try. I won’t push it.”

He didn’t argue, but he did keep his eyes on her the entire time.

Each man was so focused on their search to not be taken by surprise, that Wanda was able to climb into their minds. They were alert, but only for the physical threats that could be around any corner. She had to pull away when one of them got to close to their hiding place. Steve readied for an attack but Wanda reached out and held the top of the shield.

“Simmons, that storage clear?” Somebody further out yelled.

Simmons didn’t notice the red haze around him or the fact that he never bothered to open the hidden door when he called back, “clear!”

While he was so close, Wanda took a peak into his memories as well.  

She was disappointed when she found nothing in his memories, either. All of them had been here for a while and kept out of the HYDRA loop. They probably didn’t know Strucker let alone her or Pietro. Barnes wasn’t somebody they knew personally, that much she picked up on after a few more minutes of digging.

Wanda slumped against the wall, tired from her intruding and saddened to have nothing to show for it this time. “They don’t know anything.”

“It was worth a shot.”

“Yeah,” she lied, feeling the pulsating behind her eyes and how the thought of going up all the stairs to get back to the surface just seemed so impossible right then. She slid down the wall and rubbed her temples, “I just need a second.”

Steve joined her, “we have time. Sounds like they’re going to fry the computers and get out of here.”

“Should we stop them?”

“We’ll incapacitate them and then have cleared SHIELD agents come in and clean up.”

“Shouldn’t we stop them before they get the computers? Natasha might not have gotten all of it.”

“I’m sure she got the important stuff.”

Steve stopped before he could say more and when she finally opened her eyes and looked up at him she already knew the answer. “You don’t trust your own people?”

“I trust Natasha and Sam. Most of the time, I trust Fury even if I think I shouldn’t. Then of course there’s you, and I do trust you, Wanda. There are a few others, but SHIELD as a whole? I have my doubts.” 

Not trusting an organization, that she could understand. Strucker had put up a good act, but she’d known him for years and always thought their goals were aligned. Now she wondered what he really intended to use her for, assuming she was able to kill the Avengers he musts have had plans for what came after.

But Steve trusted her and she was touched that he actually had some faith in her. She had always hoped that he didn’t consider her a nuisance, and she’d wanted to be of use to him in his search for Barnes just as she wanted his help finding Pietro. Of course, she trusted him. He was one of the few people she’d trusted in a long time.  Their shoulders were pressed together and when she turned to look at him she just began to realize how close they _really_ were.

The footsteps outside were only just now moving up to the next level. From the sound of it, they were kicking the cement chunks out of their way as they went.

Steve turned to look down at her, whatever he was about to say died before he could get the words out.

Wanda _knew_ she needed to turn away right then. She could think of a lot of reasons why she shouldn’t dig the soft skin of her palms to the concrete floor and brace herself. Why she shouldn’t let her eyes close almost completely. She’d long grown accustomed to the power that lingered at her fingertips or the way other people’s thoughts and feeling were just _there_ like they were her own. But right then, at that moment, there was _nothing_. It was only her in her own mind and in her own body that felt very human despite what it was capable of.

Wanda had no idea who moved first or if it was both of them at the same time, but she was actually kissing him. She was frozen once she realized this fact, her lips still against his, just as his were unmoving against her. She trembled but didn’t let herself think of what this meant. She let herself enjoy it.

She pressed a little more firmly against him and felt a shiver run down the length of her body when he reciprocated.

Light, gentle, and so very chaste they kissed long enough for her to smell the faintest traces of leather and the spicy soap he must have used.

Despite the, well, _innocence_ of their connection, the fact that it was Steve made her whimper without meaning to. He stopped everything then and Wanda was just about to pull away and begin to apologize for letting it get this far. She really was, when Steve suddenly reached up and cupped either side of her face, his hands tangling up in her hair when he pulled her back into it with a little more force.

She was tentative when she slid her tongue out and brushed it against his lips. Steve made a little noise, maybe a moan but she had her suspicions it was also a whimper. She reached out and held onto his shoulders, her fingernails digging into the material of his suit when their tongues slid against each other.

 _“Wanda,”_ he groaned when he slowed down, taking a deep inhale.

It was over, she knew that much. Whatever that had been…

His hands were still in her hair but she took hers off of him. She opened her eyes and realized how far over the line she had gone.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“Oh _God_ Wanda, no I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Really, it’s fine. Let’s just forget it.”

He didn’t look so sure, but she was too shaken to reach out with her powers and see how he felt.

“They’re leaving now if you’re ready to go.” She told him once she got her breath back.

“Right,” he pressed ear, “Sam, tag the cars leaving and send the tracking to the new SHIELD headquarters.”

“On it.”

They sat in silence just long enough for it to be awkward, though neither of them did anything to end it. Steve was the first to get up and offered his hand to help her up. She hesitated before she accepted. She distracted herself when she was up by dusting her clothes off and discreetly running her hands through her hair to smooth down the dishevelment.  

They said nothing as they made their way back to the car.


End file.
